作為一個重要作家,蔡秋桐曾是一位日治時代最基層的地方政治人物。他以筆名「秋洞」,在1930年發表他的第一篇小說〈帝君庄秘史〉。這篇小說的標題雖然可直率地理解為某個村莊的秘密歷史,但是該如何理解仍是充滿困難與秘密。「帝君」所指涉的是哪個真實存在的村莊,乃至如何詮釋這篇小說,以往一直是個問題。顯然這篇小說是以台灣語文書寫的笑話與諷刺刻意展現的誇張放肆,甚至以鄙俗調侃作為其掩飾的面具。本論文將試圖逐字考察這篇小說的可能隱喻意涵。筆者懷疑其假具的目的,不僅是作為一種保護色以避免受到政治的控制,而且也是作為一種對抗論述,用以嘲諷1920年代台灣地方政客與政治制度的變革。
Chhoa Chhiu-tong(蔡秋桐, 1900-1984)was a major Taiwanese writer and grassroots politician during the Japanese Colonial Period. Using the pseudonym, Chhiu- tōng(秋洞), he published his first novel Tè-kun-chng Pì-sú(帝君庄秘史) in 1930. According to the novel's title, it is understandable that the novel is about the secret history of the "Te-kun" village. However, it is filled with difficulties and secrets to comprehend the text, such as where the actual location of the"Te-kun" village was, and in what way to interpret the novel. Obviously the writer employed the writing strategies such as gross robust humor, extravagance of caricature and jokes in Taiwanese as a disguise mask. This paper is intended as an investigation of the novel's metaphorical meaning literally. The researcher has doubts that the purpose of the mask is not only as a camouflage to avoid the political control, but also as a counter-discourse to satirize the local politicians and Taiwan government's reform in the 1920s.