本文將以廖鴻基《討海人》裡的漁民故事做為海洋文學的例子，探討臺灣海洋文學中漁民的生活文化與宗教信仰。主要將以臺灣沿海漁民的日常生活空間與海洋文化為出發點，以羅蘭•巴特的符號學系統、列斐弗爾的空間再生產與布迪厄的「慣域」概念來討論臺灣沿海海洋文化與單獨作業的個體漁民間相互依存的關係，以維克多•特納的儀式理論來探討海洋文化對漁民生死觀與信仰崇拜的影響與形塑。以小漁船進行沿海漁業捕撈的漁民，不同於集體式大漁船的捕撈作業團隊，沒有雄厚財力與進步的技術工具。沿海漁民生活的目的與個人的生死觀因此與海洋的變動息息相關，海洋文化直接與漁民生活與信仰連結，也同時塑造漁民的生活信仰與文化。廖鴻基的《討海人》中有關近海漁民的生活片段、日常作業情形、工作倫理、民間信仰與慶典儀式的描述，做為記錄臺灣漁民生活的海洋文學故事，將有助於吾人理解臺灣沿海海洋文化、漁人脈脈相傳的在地知識與海上漁民的友誼，是如何具體形塑漁民生活與生死觀，形成臺灣沿海漁民獨特的宗教信仰與文化。

This paper takes the delineation of the life, culture and religious beliefs of the fishermen in Hong-Ji Liao's literary text, The Fishermen, as an illustration of the unique characteristics of Taiwan's fishery culture. Roland Barthes' concept of the semiotic system, Henri Lefebvre's space theory, Pierre Bourdieu's concept of the habitus and Victor Turner's theory of the ritual process will be applied in the discussion on the influences shaping the fishermen's viewpoint towards life, death, religious beliefs and daily practices. The unusual work environment and the small, individual business model adopted by the fishermen in Taiwan's inshore fishery help create the work ethics and distinctive character of the strong close trust and cooperation among the fishermen. While such kind of fishery culture not only influences and molds the fishermen's particular concepts of life and death, it also contributes to their unique religious belief that worshiping and serving both the divine deities and the lower spirits which govern the sea and threaten the fishermen's lives and interests is a necessary part of daily ritual.