台灣的留學生文學長久以來被視作現代主義文學的一部份，而書寫此類文學的作家們常被批評為太過關注個人瑣事。對此類文學的發展之研究因此仍顯不足。然而，在於梨華和白先勇分別在其作品中成功地型塑了失根的留學生形象後，此類文學歷經不少衍變，展現了豐富多樣的風貌。本論文檢閱「留學生文學」產生的意涵，勘正前人對留學生文學的自我耽溺及流離失所之觀點。文章首先對留學生文學的產生及發展作一概述，然後以郭松棻和李永平兩位作家為主闡明其作品中對個人情事的關注如何可被視為作家們的自造像。本文論述在此自造像中，社會政治課題並非被漠視，而是以抒情的方式含蓄表現，且被高度美學化。正因如此，兩位作家將先前以感傷為基調的留學生文學提升到新的高度，並藉此書寫為手段，表述其對文學作為一提供歷史創傷和個人欲望的救贖的藝術形式之理念。回過來說，郭松棻和李永平作品題材的多元與風格的繁複敦促我們重新思索留學生文學作為文學史上的一個斷代術語的侷限。

Taiwan's liuxuesheng wenxue (literature by overseas students) has long been regarded as an integral part of modernist literature and its practioners are often criticized for being too self-absorbed in their own personal matters. Consequently, the evolution of this type of literature is little studied. However, after authors like Yu Lihua and Bai Xianyong coined the image of rootless Chinese students through their fictional works, this genre of literature has undergone great change and exhibited a rich diversity. This paper reviews the implications of the term ”liuxuesheng wenxue”, redressing the reception of this body of texts as self-indulgent and rootless. The paper first provides an overview of the emergence and development of this type of literature. It then focuses on the works by Guo Songfen and Li Yongping, demonstrating how the concerns for personal matters in their writing can be seen as self-portraiture in which sociopolitical issues are not excluded but lyrically understated and highly aestheticized. By so doing, both authors elevate the earlier soppy literature by overseas students to a new level, appropriating it as a means to illustrate their notions of literature as an art form offering redemption from historical trauma and personal desire. In return, the thematic diversity and stylistic richness of Guo's and Li's works urge us to rethink the limits of literature by overseas students as a period term.