A Language Inquiry of Taiwanese Vernacular from the abrogation of Han-Wen Column on the dailies

• Main Authors: Ya-ping Chiou, 邱雅萍
• Other Authors: Pei-feng Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/72397250005943130768

碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 台灣文學研究所 === 95 === This thesis purposes to explore the development of the local language in Taiwan during Japanese rule, and brings up the style of “Taiwanese Vernacular.” Through the observation on the abolishment of “Han-Wen Column” (a column written in Chinese) in 1937, the thesis points out the Han-Wen Column on “Taiwan Shin Minpo” (the daily set by Taiwanese) from the external language environment of 1930s’, confirming the position of Taiwanese Vernacular. And it keeps on exploring the evolvement and form of Taiwanese Vernacular, which linked with the internal transformation of Chinese writing. Since the Japanese assimilative education could not meet the daily demand of the colonized, a disconnection between School education and Social environment appeared both in language and knowledge. Realizing the need to meet the demand, Taiwanese intelligentsia launched into social education since the 1920s. They formed “Taiwan Culture Association” that held all the cultural and national activities. Among those, Taiwan Minpo, later known as Taiwan Shin Minpo, was the most significant and lasting publication. Seeing such an anti-colonial force, the Japanese administration also intentionally integrated all institutions of social education, setting a network in order to compete for the predominance in social education. Eventually, Taiwan Shin Minpo was subsumed into this network and inspected strictly by the administration for its importance in educating the Taiwanese public. In 1930s, under the rising militarism atmosphere of wiping spies out and worship of Japanese, the right-wingers entirely oppressed non-Japanese languages, especially the Han-Wen and Taiwanese with educational function to the public. The Han-Wen Column on Taiwan Shin Minpo was attacked the most heavily. However, some Japanese intelligentsia realized that the political and commercial functions of Han-Wen and Taiwanese in colonial rule could not be replaced. Therefore the editor of linguistic magazine—Ono Irizima(小野西洲)separated the Han-Wen Column apart from the common Han-Wen and Taiwanese. He cleverly shifting the right-wingers’ anxiety for “argot” and “instigation” to the ambiguous hybrid style (as he called) of Han-Wen Column. Such a style is the “Taiwanese Vernacular” discussed in this thesis. After undergoing a succession of fusion and practice, the language on Han-Wen Column—from the semimonthly Taiwan Shin Minpo to the daily Taiwan Shin Minpo— had became a hybrid style that consists of the grammars and vocabulary of Taiwanese, Chinese and Japanese. Its hybridity was far from the administration’s understanding and inspection. Also, uniting with the Taiwan Shin Minpo, in a consistent position of decolonization and enlightenment, the modern local language, Taiwanese Vernacular, was not only unable to be integrated into the imperial culture, but also an intolerable menace to the Japanese administration.