林獻堂為台灣二十世紀上半葉的知識菁英,於文化史上佔有重要的地位。其日記不僅因牽涉眾多事件而具有歷史厚度,且蘊含個人的思想關照。他又是日本殖民時期首位遠至歐美多國旅遊的台灣知識分子,遊記所錄旅途時間之長、空間移動之廣,當時難有台灣人能超越他,更增添他的旅遊書寫所蘊藏的學術研究價值。本文以林獻堂一九二七年日記及《環球遊記》為文本,參考旅行、敘事等理論概念,分別就「從日記到遊記的自我敘事」、「世界歷史記憶的再現」、「日記與遊記的文化啟蒙論述」等三個主題面向加以探討,以期能呈現這位台灣知識分子的日記與旅遊書寫在文學與文化史上的特殊意義。
As one of the elite intellectuals of Taiwan during the first half of the twentieth century, Lin Xian-tang sits on a prominent position in the field of cultural history of Taiwan. His large volumes of diaries recorded many significant historical incidents and events of Taiwan, and his personal opinions in the diaries are also of great values. He was the first Taiwanese intellectual to take extensive travels to the European countries and the United States during the Japanese occupation; therefore, his travel notes are the richest among his contemporaries and treasures for the academic studies. The significance and impact of Lin Xian-tang's diaries and travel notes to Taiwan literature and culture studies are the emphasis of this essay. The following essay will mostly refer to Lin Xian-tang's diaries in 1927, his book Travel Notes around the World and other concepts and theories on travel experiences and narration. The discussion will involve three themes, ”Self-narration from the diaries to the travel notes”, ”The reemergence of the historical memories of the world”, ”The discussion of the cultural enlightenment in the diaries and the travel notes”.