發生在1987～1996期間的台語文學論爭，是台語文學運動追求文學語言的表現，也就是台灣受外來政權統治，本土語言文化要求獨立自主的表現。日治時期，有過鄉土文學及台灣話文論爭、但因皇民化運動壓制而受挫。接著，國民黨在台灣推行華語的「國語政策」，壓制各族群語言，各族群語言瀕臨滅亡的危機。由於台灣社會民主化，促使台語文學運動再度興起。台語文學論爭就在這種時空背景下產生。

台語文學論爭有二個很重要的核心議題。一就是中國本位與台灣本位價值觀點的衝突。二就是以台語做為文學語言的訴求。因為這二個議題的辯論，而引發台語文字化、母語教育、語言政策等相關議題的發展。因為台語文學論爭，打破獨尊華語的權威，其他族群的語言文化運動也受到鼓舞。台語文學論爭不但追求自己的生存空間，也激起客家族群及原住民族追求本身語言文化的主體性。雖然台灣本土認同興起，但面到英語國際化的壓力，如何取得均衡，也是一個嚴肅的議題。

本論文在探討台語文學論爭除了追溯到歷史淵源，也涉及相關發展，及延伸到對未來發展的意義。在理論應用上也藉由高低文字的理論來詮釋台語文學運動，包括台語文學定位問題、台語文學論爭及相關發展的議題。另外本論文將戰後曾被殖民過的國家，他們的語言發展，跟台語文學運動做一個比較。我們希望這一本論文，能夠做為未來台灣語言發展的參考。

The Taigi literature debates between 1987 and 1996 were the result of the Taigi literature movement’s efforts to pursue the status of literary language for Taigi. They were also the result of native languages and cultures in Taiwan attempting to attain subjectivity under foreign domination. The Taiwanese homeland literature and language debates occurred in the Japanese colonial period; however, they were hindered by the oppression of the Japanization movement. The suppression of native languages continued under the KMT regime, which implemented Mandarin as the state-mandated language under the ‘National Language Policy’. As a result, many ethnic languages in Taiwan suffer from serious language attrition. Owing to the democratization of Taiwanese society, the Taigi literature movement arose again and this led to the re-occurrence of the Taigi literature debates.

There are two important core issues in the Taigi literature debates. One is the value conflict between Chinese viewpoints and Taiwanese viewpoints. The other is the appeal of Taigi as a literary language. As a result of debates arising about these two issues, related developments like debates over Taigi script standardization, vernacular education and language policy also arose. The fact that the Taigi literature debates challenged the authority of the ‘Mandarin Only’ policy also stimulated the language and culture movements of other ethnic groups in Taiwan. The Taigi literature debates not only pursued a living space for Taigi, but also encouraged Hakka and aboriginal ethnic groups to pursue the subjectivity of their own language and culture. Although Taiwan local consciousness arose, it encountered competition from the English language through globalization. Thus the question of how to obtain balanced development between localization and globalization has become a major issue for native languages in Taiwan.

This thesis explores not only the historical origins of the Taigi literature debates but also development related to the debates as well as their influence on the future development of Taigi literature. This thesis applies the theory of diglossia and digrphia in explicating the Taigi literature movement, including the orientation of Taigi literature, Taigi literature debates and related developments. In addition, this thesis also refers to the language development of a number of former colonies and compares their experiences with Taiwan. We hope that this research can contribute to the development of Taiwanese language in the future.