A pictorial semiotic analysis of Taiwan Women's Sphere during Japanese occupation of Taiwan

《臺灣婦人界》是日治時期唯一在臺灣發行的女性雜誌，其創刊宗旨為「協助提升發展臺灣婦人文化」。雜誌中所呈現的女性形象反映了當時臺灣部分女性，特別是中上階級女性的樣貌。本研究以《臺灣婦人界》的廣告為文本，運用法國符號學者羅蘭‧巴特提出的圖像符號學分析觀點，探討雜誌圖像中呈現的女性形象，及其背後所代表的文化意涵。 本研究發現，《臺灣婦人界》中呈現的女性形象與日治時期臺灣女子教育中的「高女文化」相符，這種「高女文化」所體現的「和洋折衷」符號現象，具體而微地代表日治時期臺灣邁向現代化的過程。臺灣的現代化過程，係受到殖民母國影響，掺雜了日本經驗與經過日本篩選的西方經驗。此外，根據文本分析的結果，《臺灣婦人界》有一種女性形象為「賢妻良母」，代表的是日治時期臺灣女性婚後的典範，女性必須透過婚姻與婚後的家庭場域，才能實踐她所扮演的理想角色。《臺灣婦人界》發行後期受到中日戰爭影響，呈現的女性形象與戰前截然不同，此時期圖像反映出戰爭期間，日本殖民政府利用媒體意圖塑造的各種表象，如幸福的皇民化家庭、女性進行的奉仕活動等。Taiwan Women's Sphere is the only women's magazine published in Taiwan during the period of Japanese occupation. Its object was to assist in developing women’s culture in Taiwan. Taiwan Women's Sphere can be viewed as an important medium representing images of upper-class females during Japanese Occupation of Taiwan. Using the analytic principles of pictorial semiotics proposed by French semiotician Roland Barth, the present research analyzes advertising and pictorial texts containing female images and provides an in-depth discussion of the cultural and societal factors influencing such representation. Our research results indicate that the female images represented in Taiwan Women's Sphere fit into "the culture of girl’s high schools" during Japanese occupation. "The culture of girl’s high schools" connotes both the influences of Japan and the West, which play significant roles in the modernization process of Taiwan. A modernized Taiwan was not only influenced by Japanese colonizer but also by the western cultural elements selected by Japan. . In addition, another significant female role portrayed by Taiwan Women's Sphere was "a dutiful wife and also a loving mother." Such an image implies that females were “ideal women” only when they were married and practice their dual roles as wife and mother in the familial space... After 1937 when Sino-Japanese War broke out, contents of Taiwan Women's Sphere were censored closely by the colonial governments. A certain number of the pictures printed on this magazine are related to the Kouminka Movement such as the portrayal of the kouminka family and war-supporting women engaging in various activities