本文嘗試透過閱讀陳映真的早期小說，討論陳映真作為一個思想家對重建左翼文化的思想意義。我們的閱讀主要是環繞在他關於左翼男性知識份子對性與兩性關係的反身性思索。我們發現他對於這些重要問題的看法充滿了深刻的悖論。性與兩性關係，既被視為沈淪的引誘，也被視為救贖的提升。但更重要的是，陳映真透過兩性關係的思索，在開展了一種對於左翼陽剛「理想主義」的批判的同時，也批判了一種回歸土地、種性與傳統，作為前述理想主義對反的「民粹主義」。陳映真的思想因此隱含了對這般的理想主義與民粹主義的超克，從而對當代關心重建左翼文化的思考提供了重要的對話。

Chen Yingzhen’s early novels shed important light for us to reconsider the reconstitution of the culture of the Left. His reflexive thinking on questions such as sex and woman with regard to the left-wing male subject is entangled with profound antinomies. The most valuable legacy of the young Chen is his double-edged critique of an untrammeled idealism and an Earth-bound populism. Chen’s thinking implicit in his early novels implies the overcoming of the two and therefore deserves close attention from those who are concerned with the reconstitution of the culture of the Left.