台灣作家龍瑛宗（1911-1999）於1943年發表的小說〈蓮霧的庭院〉（蓮霧の庭）描述的是台灣人（我）與鄰居的在台日人藤崎一家人（父、母、一子二女為灣生）時而和睦相處、時而在內心糾結的景象。當前研究咸從民族融合或應時文學的角度切入，從中探測殖民主義壓迫身心的力度。然而，是否可以將灣生直接等同於台、內之辨中的內地一方，此研究前提值得進一步細緻區分。本文挪用符號學式的分析架構，探討作品中出現諸多對藤崎家及其個別認同進行複雜指涉的符號，發現其確實有別於廣義在台日人，而有異質性。並且，灣生家庭的邊緣性質看似呼應了龍瑛宗身為客家人受到雙重壓迫的流動主體。由此推論，龍瑛宗居於嚴峻的戰時動員體制中，試圖於字裡行間迂迴創造協商空間的可能性。本文期望藉由探討殖民時期之文學作品〈蓮霧的庭院〉中灣生與在台日人的再現，在國族的想像上提出不同的閱讀觀點。

"The Garden of Wax-apple" is a 1943 novel written by Ryu Ei-Sou (1911-1999), who in the novel depicts not only the harmony but also the entanglements between a Taiwanese protagonist and a Naichi (Japanese) Fujisaki family. As it is a story about interaction between different ethnic groups in the wartime background, academic discussions often centered on ethnic harmony or the Japanese colonial policies in Taiwan. However, the premise that the Wansei are included in the Naichi side deserves further careful attention. Since many symbols are presented in the novel, this article employs the analysis framework of semiotic and discusses the complex references to the Fujisaki family and their individual identities in the text. The article finds that the Wansei are different from the generalized Naichi people in Taiwan. Also, it seems that the characteristics of the Ryu (Hakka/Min/Japan) and the Wansei (Naichi/Taiwan/ Nanpō) are somewhat similar, since they both share the double, or fluid, consciousness of their identity. It can be inferred that Ryu, living in a strict wartime, tried to create the possibility of negotiating space by detours between the lines. By exploring the literary representations of the Wansei (or the Japanese in Taiwan) in the text, we would like to bring different points of view on the imagination of the nation.