本文探討西川滿(Nishikawa Mitsuru)由戰前台灣文壇時崇尚耽美浪漫的純學文家,至戰後遣返日本、成為大眾小說家的轉變過程。西川滿兩歲隨父母來台,台灣是他成長的土地,是廣義上的灣生。受法國文學及恩師吉江喬松的影響,回台灣建立南方文學,在日治後期成為台灣文壇領袖之一。創作風格耽美浪漫,擁有報紙文藝欄和自辦的雜誌,寫作題材不受大眾讀者口味限制。日本敗戰後,西川滿被遣返回日本國內,喪失原有社經地位和財產,生活陷入困境,住進難民收容所。為謀生,不再堅持自己的美學品味,創作大量迎合大眾口味的小說,並積極在大眾商業雜誌投稿。戰後西川滿靠著台灣累積的文化資本,創作出許多和台灣有關的作品。另外身為被遣返者,他也寫這些戰爭難民在日本國內的悲慘遭遇,如直木賞入圍之作〈地獄的谷底〉。遣返者在回歸日本後,以成長故鄉台灣為題材的作品值得被注意,不該被埋沒於歷史中。
This research examined the process of Nishikawa Mitsuru’s transformation from a master in aesthetic and romantic literature in Taiwan before the war, to a writer of popular literature in Japan after his repatriation and the war. Nishikawa came to Taiwan with his parents at the age of two; he grew up in Taiwan and was considered as a Taiwan-born Japanese in a broad sense. Under the influence of French literature and his kind teacher Yoshie Takamatsu, Nishikawa came back to establish the Southern literature in Taiwan, and later became one of the leaders in the community of Taiwanese literature near the end of the era of Japanese colonialism. With his aesthetic and romantic writing styles, Nishikawa had his own journal columns and magazines, which preserved the originality of his work from the limitations of public interests. After Japan lost the war, Nishikawa was repatriated to Japan. He lost the socioeconomic status and assets that he had in Taiwan, and lived in predicament as he moved into a refugee shelter. In order to make a living, Nishikawa no longer insisted in literary aesthetics; instead he wrote many novels to meet the interests of general readers, while he also made submissions to public business magazines actively. Many of Nishikawa’s works written after the war were related to Taiwan, as he based them on the cultural capitals that he accumulated from his experience in Taiwan. Additionally, he also wrote about the miserable lives of war refugees in Japan, from his experience as a repatriate. One example of such work by him was “At the Bottom of Hell”, which was nominated for the Naoki Prize. Focusing on the experiences of growing up in homeland Taiwan by repatriates who returned to Japan, these works are worthy of public attention and should not be buried in history.