本文試圖從文學史的基本探問出發，藉此分析日治時期臺灣的文學史書寫如何成為一門知識領域而被加以建構的過程。大抵說來，文學史作為一特殊文類，其最普遍的形式是處理一國或一民族的文學歷史，而在「文學史」之前冠上「臺灣」這種全稱的命名方式，便已預設了將「臺灣」作為一個民族或國家的單位。在此前提下，如何書寫包含多種不同族群的殖民地文學史，斷然不是一項具有明確概念或方法的工程。它所涉及的，不僅是殖民地的歷史，更是關連到文學的定義，同時也必須仰賴文學批評的機制才得以成立。目前關於日治時期臺灣的文學史書寫研究，多是從「臺灣主體性」──亦即有無將臺灣（以漢文寫作的）作家納入文學史視野的角度展開。但是，所謂「臺灣主體性」在日治當時仍是一個持續形成的概念，因此本文認為有必要將「臺灣的文學史主體」歷史化，並重新檢視臺灣的文學史如何被視為一個有機的整體，其中包含了怎樣的民族構成與時間的安排，以及各個文學作品又是以怎樣的美學或批評標準被加以評價等問題。因此，儘管關於日治時期文學史的研究目前已累積相當可觀的成果，但本文認為仍有必要從不同的角度，亦即如上之問題意識，並藉此作為方法路徑，而對日治時期的文學史書寫展開重新的探索與詮釋。

This study applies the basic questions on literary history to analyzing the construction of Taiwanese Literary History under Japanese Colonial Rule as a field of study. ＂Literary history＂ as a subject deals primarily with understanding the literature of a country. Thus, when placing ＂Taiwanese literature＂ into a framework of ＂literary history,＂ Taiwan thus presumably had the status of a nation. Nevertheless, to write a comprehensive literary history of a colony made up of many different ethnic groups is by no means an easy task. Such a project would involve parsing out not only the history of that colony, but also the definition of literature itself and literary criticism. Current research on Taiwanese Literary History under Japanese Colonial Rule has generally focused on ＂the subjectivity of Taiwan＂; that is, whether or not to take Taiwanese writers into consideration when constructing a Taiwanese literary history. However, this article argues that it is necessary to reexamine the history of ＂the subjectivity of Taiwanese literary history,＂ investigating the idea of Taiwanese literary history as an organic entity in which different peoples have come together at different times, and looking into the aesthetic or standard of evaluation adopted to critique the literary works of various cultures. Although considerable research on Taiwanese Literary History under Japanese Colonial Rule has already been carried out, this study approaches the topic from new angles. This article is guided by the above question of how to write a literary history of a multi-ethnic colony, and seeks to form a new methodology and intellectual framework for exploring this issue in the Taiwanese context.