南方想像是日本帝國主義的慾望產物。在廣邈的南方想像中，台灣是帝國慾望主軸。明治中期開始，南方作為日本投射帝國慾望的一個想像地理，透過各種文本的鋪陳漸漸建構出一套南進論述。不論是公共政策的社會層面，或是私人意識型態的精神層面，南方論述慢慢滲透成為帝國主義的文化血脈。本論文的研究主題，即在於探討從明治中期以降日人作家的台灣書寫，尤其聚焦在小說與紀行文體。筆者縱貫討論1910年代前後以降至1940年代的日人作家作品，主要對象包括1910年代前後的竹越與三郎、中村古峽，1920年代的佐藤春夫，1930年代的中村地平、真杉靜枝，1940年代的西川滿與《文藝台灣》。誠然，不同的歷史階段，往往會呈現殊異的南方論述。會選擇這些日人作家與文本，源自於他們在各年代的象徵性意義。不難發現，日人作家的「南方」觀，除了帶有異國情調的異色幻想，也投射強大的帝國慾望。 從明治時期到1940年代，日人作家所帶來的文學／文化／地理想像問題，充滿無數臆想。檢視他們南方書寫的內涵，可以發現其中歷經了三個階段的衍變：從領台初期混沌未明的南方憧憬階段，藉助各種文化與帝國論述的傳播，逐漸成為日本人集體的政治無意識，最後在戰爭期則演進為日本帝國的強大意志。台灣作為被觀看的南方客體，透過各種話語敘事，從模糊概念而逐漸顯現清晰的形體。到了南進政策明確的階段，「前進南方」不再是潛藏在個人內心的集體無意識，它一躍而為昭然若揭的意志、隨處可見的口號。就東亞文學與後殖民主義的觀點而論，日治時期日人作家台灣書寫的發展，誠然具有複調的文化意涵。文化自身是一個包含細緻化與提升性要素的概念，它也會被許多政治與意識形態主張在其上彼此相互交涉對話。這些帶有豐富暗示的帝國文本，和日本從明治時期以降的南進論述，甚至昭和時期的大東亞共榮圈構想，在政治對文學的動員關係上形成深刻的影響。不可否認的，作品所呈現出來的文化思維與美學形式，乃是衍生自每位作者的歷史經驗。南方作為帝國慾望的一部分，自明治中期以降逐漸在文學之上形成一條「南方」系譜，追根究柢，帝國的政治與文化之間的聯繫誠然極其貼近。本論文企圖以再閱讀與再詮釋的方式，進入日至時期日人作家台灣書寫的歷史脈絡，探討他們所形塑的南方憧憬，進而解構日人作家所建構或虛構的南方敘事。 / The imagination of South was the product of Japanese Imperial desire. In its extensive imagination, Taiwan was the pivotal axis of the imperial desire. Since the mid-Meiji era, South had been seen an imaginative geography projected from this desire, based on which various kind of literary texts were developed in the construction of discourse on military advance to south. Discourse on advance to south was gradually becoming a major thinking of Japanese imperialism, in the forms of public policies on social level or in the forms of personal ideology on the mental level. This dissertation proposes to examine Japanese authors’ writing of Taiwan from the mid-Meiji era onward especially by focusing on the genres of novels and travel writings. The texts in the discussion include works by Takekoshi Yosaburo and Nakamura Kokyu in the 1910’s, Sato Haruo in the 1920’s, Nakamura Jihei and Masugi Shizue in the 1930’s, and Nishikawa Mitsuru and his magazine Bungei Taiwan in the 1940’s. It is indeed that in the different historical stages, the contents of the discourse on advance to South varied. The reason why these authors and their texts are selected for examination is because each of them possessed symbolic meanings for their own times. It is not hard to find that Japanese authors’ perspectives on Taiwan were not only tinged with exotic and erotic fantasies, but also strongly implied their imperial desire. 　　As we can find, there were three stages of development when examining the contents of Japanese writing of South: first, in the initial acquisition of Taiwan in the early 20th century, the longing for south remained vague; second, during the 1920’s and 1930’s, thanks to the spreading of cultural elaboration and imperialist discourses, the image of south steadily became a political unconsciousness; and third, during the war period in the 1940’s, the ideas about south were finally elevated to a strong will of the empire. The south as an imagination for imperial expansion was not any more a hidden consciousness, but an overt action as embodied in its military advance to Southeast Asia. From the context of East Asia literature and viewpoint of post-colonialism, therefore, it is truth that the development of Japanese authors’ writing of Taiwan during colonial period, did have its plural political implications. These imperial texts with ample implications had mutual influences with the discourse on advance to south in Meiji era and the formation of ideas about Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Circle in Showa period. It is no doubt that the cultural thinking and aesthetical forms as expressed in literary works were derived from each author’s historical experience. The purpose of this dissertation, with rereading and reevaluating source materials, aims to investigate how Japanese authors, when writing Taiwan, developed their imagination of south and further reconstructed their south narratives.