臺灣原住民族群的過去與現在，一直糾結於現代文明與傳統文化的拉扯與融合。重要深遠的影響，是維繫臺灣原住民族群文化的核心價值，發生幾乎不可逆轉的改變。具體可觀察的現象，即為臺灣原住民族群的文化變遷，包括關係著整體部落與個人保衛生命的疾病文化觀念。然而，這種互相涵他卻又彼此爭奪話語權的文化變遷，正反映了全球化的浪潮襲捲下，少數族群擺盪於殖民馴化與傳統認同之間的悖論。 對於達悟現代文學有重要影響的〈蘭嶼行醫記>，不僅是作者記錄行醫過程的散文作品。同時，文本穿插著這座熱帶小島上關於現代與傳統的疾病書寫中，一些積真董事書象做性的文字符號，像「衛生所」、「醫師」、「魔鬼」、「惡靈」與「阿尼肚」等，在《蘭嶼行醫記》的文本裡，一方面揭示符號自身的此在﹔另一方面在符號彼此之間的辯證關係中，呈現出符號的互文及其文化語言。從而，藉由符號的能指與所指的轉換過程，揭露了符號文本的意指表述裡，隱藏著意識形態的批評及其轉變作為。

The past and present of Taiwan’s indigenous people have long been entangled in the conflicts and synthesis of modern civilization and their traditional cultures. One of the deep-rooted and significant impacts is that the core values that used to hold the indigenous people together have undergone almost irrevocable changes. One concrete and discernible phenomenon of the impact is the cultural paradigm shifts that have taken place in Taiwan’s indigenous tribes. This includes how the indigenous cultures regard and assess illnesses, which not only affects the future of the tribe as a whole, but is also closely connected to the well being of the individual. However, such cultural paradigm shifts, which involve at the same time acculturation on both sides and competition for the dominance of discourse, are precisely the paradox that exists for the minority groups now, as they face the wave of globalization and often vacillate between submission to colonization and full recognition of their own tradition. Essays on Medical Practice in Lanyu (Lan yu xing yi ji), a collection of essays that has a significant influence on the modern literature of the Tao tribe, is more than random essays jotted down by the author as he practiced medicine in Lanyu. In the text, some of the important linguistic symbols found in modern and traditional writings on illness on this tropical island keep reoccurring, such as “local health center,” “doctor,” “devil,” “evil spirit,” and “anito” (meaning “evil spirit” in Tao). On the one hand, these symbols are self-assertive in the text of Essays on Medical Practice in Lanyu; on the other hand, the dialectics between different textual symbols demonstrates their intertextuality and the significance of their culture languages. Consequently, through the process of transformation between the signifier and the signified, the covert ideological criticism and the actual changes as implicitly expressed in the textual symbols are thus disclosed.