Mnemonic-Historical Materials of Literature: Local Prose Genealogy and Historical Context of Taiwanese Writers during Japanese Colonial Period in the Post-war Era

Abstract

<p>當前臺灣文學本土論研究的解釋框架中，多以小說作為主軸，散文相對受到忽視。然而，散文對於臺灣文學本土論而言，其實有著不可或缺的意義，因為它作為個人經歷或歷史經驗的表述與再現，具有奠基於真實性的基礎，不僅涉及文學表意，更包含記憶政治的問題。日治作家在戰後回溯過去生命經歷的「散文」，具有述史的性質，因而既是自傳，同時也是「記憶性文學史料」。在日治記憶遭受壓抑的戒嚴期間，他們的散文集是戰後世代認識日治的第一手文本，更是建構日治臺灣史與臺灣文學史的重要一環。本文聚焦由戰後初期至解嚴之前這段期間，曾於生前或身後出版散文集的日治本土作家，透過文本分析，考察日治作家的生命史與精神史，以彰顯個人的歷史意識，並梳理散文的文類概念與語言使用，藉此探討不同時代散文集的出版意義，試圖指出在戰後戒嚴體制的時空情境裡，本土散文具備重建歷史記憶的功能，形成一個有別於中國抒情傳統的本土「述史」傳統。沿著這個脈絡，進而重新評估本土散文在臺灣文學史上的重要性，以拓展臺灣本土文學論的內涵。</p> <p> </p><p>The current studies of Taiwanese literary localism have built its framework mostly on novel; prose, by contrast, is often overlooked. However, prose has crucial significance for Taiwanese literary localism, in that it articulates and represents personal lives and historical experiences. Prose is based on reality, engaging with literary expression and the politics of memory. When Taiwanese writers who lived through the Japanese colonial period wrote about their past experiences in prose, their writings were characterized by a historical narrative. As such, their writings are both autobiographies and “Mnemonic-Historical Materials of Literature.” During the martial law era when Japanese colonial memories are suppressed, their prose collections are the first-hand texts for the post-war generation to learn about Japanese colonization; furthermore, they play a vital role in constructing the history of Taiwan under Japanese Colonial Rule and the history of Taiwanese literature. This paper focuses on Taiwanese writers under Japanese Colonial Rule, who had published prose collections during the life time or posthumously, from the early post-war years to the period just before the lifting of martial law. Through textual analysis, the paper investigates the life histories and spiritual histories to foreground the historical consciousness in these individuals. The paper also explores the notion of genre and the language use of prose to discuss the significance of publishing proses in a different era. The paper seeks to indicate that local proses serve to reconstruct historical memories during the martial law era, forming a local history narrative tradition distinct from the Chinese lyrical tradition. Following this vein, the paper reevaluates the significance of Taiwanese local prose in the history of Taiwanese literature, so as to enrich the scope of Taiwanese literary localism.</p> <p> </p>