1827年歌德第一次提出「世界文學」這個名詞，指陳一個「不同的國家或者地方之間文學互動交流的『現代』狀況。」也就是說歌德用它來描述十九世紀初期歐洲資本主義發達所迅速帶動開展的文化交換現象：世界文學指稱當時歐洲普遍流行的文學現象，是一個文化產品交流互動，學習融合因而改變更新的精神空間，可以說是一個文學的世界市場。因為對歌德來說歐洲的現代性既是物質產品的交易，也是文化財產的交流，而這種種交換的基礎便是翻譯。 本文擬定把歌德的世界文學與翻譯的關係引進台灣文學的脈絡，詮釋一九二○年代之後台灣文學的生成發展實為本地文學活動與世界文學交流融合與折衝抗衡的一個範例，尤其著重一個新的文類――小說，這個舶來品文體在台灣誕生的過程。換句話說透過翻譯研究把台灣文學放置到世界文學體系裡，讓台灣文學進入一個與國際連結的比較文學場域。職是之故，本文以世界文學的模式來分析台灣文學，期冀描述台灣文學中的跨文化維度，亦即從日本殖民時期開始台灣作家如何透過翻譯作品汲取養分書寫新型文體，進而發現自身創造自身的文學歷史。

Goethe mentioned Weltliteratur for the first time in 1827, that is to say “World Literature.” From his point of view, it was the modern state of the relationship between diverse national and regional literature: world literature at that time, was one “cultural space,” where exchange was frequent and one author’s work could react to another’s, and vice versa. Goethe used this term to describe the phenomenon of the emerging and rapidly progressing cultural exchange since the development of capitalism. For Goethe, European modernity was as much about the commerce of material goods as it was about cultural exchange. Translation played a major part in this universal exchange market on all levels. The goal of this article is to apply the relationship between world literature and its translation, in the context of Taiwanese literature. The exposure to foreign ideas, the presence of the “Other” and the resulting conflict pushed Taiwan to find itself. Among the products of this exchange is that Taiwanese literature found itself exploring a new genre, an imported genre, namely the novel. The transtextual dance between Taiwanese and foreign literature will be examined under the scope of comparative literature. Moreover, one must understand this background to appreciate the transcultural dimension of Taiwanese literature.