寫於70 年代中期，西西的《我城》已經成為香港文學的經典。然而，對於《我城》的研究歷時既久，論述的焦點多年來亦經歷了不少變化，尤其在九七前後，論者明顯的由語言、結構等美學問題轉向對「本土」議題的關注。本文延續有關的思考，卻希望提出「集體認同」以外的方向，來理解《我城》所想像的「本土」。具體來說，「我城」裡的「我」，經常被理解為集體的「我們」，而小說裡所描述的樂觀情緒，則「反映」了70 年代港英政府的政策改變及社會民情。本文認為，《我城》著力於瓦解一種延綿不斷的歷史想像，充分意識到「地方」的臨時性。在創造性地理解「本土」以外，更處處暗示「本土」具有流動變化的可能性。本文認為，《我城》這種取向不單見諸它對70 年代社會運動，以及難民問題兩項時事的回應，同時也見諸小說所聚焦的，「孤獨」的都市漫遊者，他們的獨行形象從某方面來說，暗示了他們對資本主義城市的疏離，也意味著他們對家庭及民族國家等等集體意識形態的拒絕。借用南希（Jean-Luc Nancy）對於「共通體」（community）的哲學思考，集體的「我們」或可理解為獨一複數（singularly plural）的「我—們」。《我城》的漫遊者通過日常生活的實踐，而非集體的認同，來投入到「本土」的創造。

Since its publication in the mid-1970s, Xi Xi’s novel I City has become a classic of Hong Kong literature. The scholarly focus on the novel has altered over the years; since 1997, there has been an especially marked shift away from aesthetic concerns, such as language and structure, and towards a discussion of the “local.” This article continues that discussion, but proposes interpretations of the local that go beyond notions of collective identity. The “I” in I City is often understood as a collective “we,” and the optimistic tone and vision of the novel are generally regarded as reflections of the social conditions and political reforms experienced under the British Hong Kong Government of the 1970s. This paper argues, in contrast, that I City hints at the concept of a fluid and ever-changing “local” by deconstructing a linear and continuous historical imagination. This is evident not only in the novel’s representation of the social movements and refugee problem of the 1970s, but also in the image of the flâneur/ flâneuse, which implies their detachment from the capitalist city in which they live, as well as their rejection of the ideology of the family and nation-state. Given Jean-Luc Nancy’s notion of community, the collective “we” may be understood as “singularly plural.” I also argue that the flâneur/ flâneuse participate in the creation of the “local” through their everyday practice instead of submitting themselves to a collective identity.