帝國底下的兩個「南方」：從西川滿與龍瑛宗的詩作看起

Two Souths under the Empire: the Cases of Nishikawa Mitsuru and Long Yin-Zong

「南方」在三○年代以來的臺灣文壇成為縈繞於詩人與作家之間的重要主題，本文以日治後期的兩位代表作家西川滿與龍瑛宗為分析對象，探討他們如何認知、建構並延展「南方」的概念，尤其是從詩歌這種特殊的文類來進一步觀察他們究竟如何抒發關於「南方」的各種想像。本文指出，「南方」是開啟西川滿文學志業的重要前提，他將「南方」設定為明朗與華麗，而落實在文學上的具體作法，就是去塑造一個與日本陰鬱的主流風格完全不同的「明朗的文學」。這促使他熱中於表現中央文壇所可能感到興趣的關於南方的文學素材，但也造成作品揮之不去的異國情調。而龍瑛宗的「南方」意象與三○年代盛行於臺灣的風土論述密切相闕，然其風土理解其實更為接近「環境決定論」的看法。這反映在詩作上的是三種南方的形象：首先是具有女性特質的「自然」，其次是落後而沮喪的「地方」最後則是從文化角度所詮釋的「南方」，一個必須被徹底改造的「南方」。要言之，西川滿在望向西方帝國的視線中返照出臺灣華麗的「南方」形象，而龍瑛宗則是在與日本帝國視線的合一之中確認了「南方」落後的位置。兩者對臺灣的熱情注視無庸置疑，但雙雙也都無可避免地被羅織在帝國的結構中，透過「南方」的投影與「他者」的視線而來尋覓「自我」的位置。 The South' had become one of the mam concerns among Taiwanese and Japanese intellectuals since the 1930s. By focusing on two of the representative poets in pre-war Taiwan, the Japanese Nishikawa Mitsuru and the Taiwanese Long Yin-Zong, this article analyzes how the images of 'the South' were imagined and developed. For Nishikawa, 'the South' represented a land full of sunlight and happiness, where he found the starting point of his literary career. Through the resplendent imaginations of 'the South,' Nishikawa attempted to create a literature style different from that of gloomy mainstream in Japan. But this also led him to explore exotic themes that might draw attention from literary circles in metropolitan Japan. On the other hand, Long associated his images of 'the South' with the popular discourse of Fudo (climate) at the time, particularly with the conception of 'environmental determinism.' There are three types of images which can be found in Long's poems: the natural south with feminine characteristic, the depressing south, and the culturally backward south needing to be transformed. While Nishikawa, through the gaze to the West, came to understand Taiwan as the locus of a splendid and beautiful 'South,' Long reconfirmed 'the South's' backwardness by conflating his own understanding with Japanese imperialism and its tendency toward superiority. There is no doubt that both Nishikawa and Long were ardent seekers of Taiwan's identity, yet both inevitably searched for, and ultimately came to different understandings of, 'the South' via the gaze of imperialist eyes.