日治時期台灣小說提及日本人和親日份子，屢屢圍繞在殖民壓迫與不公；與這種「抵抗日本殖民」論述相反的，是近年來一連串對日本殖民記憶相當友善的文學和電影。本文從日治時期台灣小說出發，透過田野調查、報紙、作家日記的佐證，探討日治時期的作家呈現哪些「惡劣的殖民記憶」，這些殖民記憶在這二十年來如何被轉換成「美好的殖民記憶」，得出結論：同樣是日本官方的權威性、現代化的引進，因為前後兩代人民分別著眼於勞苦大眾和自身經驗，而有殘暴∕秩序、侵略∕進步的不同解釋。而早期台灣人強調自己漢人的身分和近幾年來頌揚日本經驗，一方面是美化了不在場的過往政權，一方面則根源於台灣試圖尋求自我定位和主體性。

Taiwan fiction under Japanese rule often treats the Japanese and Japanophiles (Taiwanese friendly to the Japanese rulers) as instigators of colonial oppression and injustice. However, after the lifting of martial law, there appeared a wave of literature and film that put this Japanese colonial memory in a more positive light. This paper on Japanese colonial rule focuses on related Taiwan fiction and research through fieldwork, newspapers and authors’ diaries to discuss how “wretched colonial memory” has transformed into “good colonial memory” during the past two decades. The generation of writers during the colonial period and after interpret modernization differently. Whereas the writers of the Japanese period interpret it in accordance with the working masses, judging it as brutal and aggressive, the later generation treats it as order and progress. Furthermore, Taiwan intellectuals under Japanese rule often emphasized their Han Chinese identity, while Taiwan intellectuals in recent years have celebrated their colonial past. On the one hand, both wish to beautify the past as one without an authoritarian regime; one the other hand, both seek Taiwan self-positioning and national subjectivity.