Adapting to the Metropolitan Way of Life ： Taiwanese Memoirs in Japan

Adapting to the Metropolitan Way of Life: Taiwanese Memoirs in Japan

本文透過摘選數位日本殖民時代留日學生的回憶錄篇章，來探討所謂「成為日本人」此一概念。對於習於以傳統中國心態與行事邏輯的台灣留日學生而言，日本化帶來許多新奇的經驗。那些文化價值被台灣留日學生視為優越而近代的表徵，而他們在日本境內又如何對應這些價值？本文指出這些近代性的行事方式並非全然出自日本傳統，而是由日本與周邊區域和國際世界多方互動所致。藉此，來說明某些台灣留日學生藉以發現並挑戰其認同的那些共通感的模式，還有二十世紀全球化邏輯下所框架並滋養的社會對話。張深切、楊肇嘉、杜聰明、陳逸松之回憶錄是本文著力所在。

Late 19th century imperial expansion constituted one of the hallmarks with a lasting impact on the international order. The exportation of new “modern”, “civilized” ideas became a global movement. Within this process of cultural transfer, one cannot fail to pay attention to the encounters between coloniser and colonised. Said otherwise, the manner in which Taiwan entered the global world was conditioned by its Japanese colonial experience (1895-1945). This colonial legacy continued to live on in the post-Japanese-colonial period, and still plays a significant role as to how Taiwanese society at present positions itself in the global world. In between the exportation of modern and new ideas, displacement from the Taiwan periphery to the Japanese center and subsequent cultural encounter, we may discern some of the commonalities which arise from sharing about the collapse of traditional ways to interpreting anew one's own tradition and culture. As shall be demonstrated, through the passage of “becoming Japanese” and equalling modernity with Japaneseness, Taiwanese students and young professionals in Japan discovered and challenged the core of their identity in a cultural and social dialogue as framed and nurtured by the logic proper to early 20th century globalization. I have selected Taiwanese autobiographies or Memoirs as a particular genre of literary writings that enables us to disclose some features of Taiwan's globalization process. Illustrations are drawn from the narratives of the following authors: Zhang Shenqie, Yang Zhaojia, Du Congming, and Chen Yisong.