本輯收入周金波〈志願兵〉、〈水癌〉，陳火泉〈道〉，呂赫若〈風頭水尾〉、〈清秋〉五篇自日文譯為英文的文本。對於「皇民文學」的評價，應跳脫政治、民族與道德的立場，回歸文學性質的討論，以釐清作品所屬時代的文化複雜性。

Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule for fifty years from 1895 to 1945, and was therefore greatly influenced by Japan in political, economic, and cultural matters. This influence continued to play a role in Taiwan’s development even after World War II and the end of formal Japanese rule. The “Imperial Subject Movement” (Kominka undō) promoted during Japanese colonial rule was a phenomenon that must be faced in order to understand this particular period of history in Taiwan. The Imperial Subject Literature it produced is a page in the history of Taiwan literature that cannot be denied. For this special issue entitled “Imperial Subject Literature in Taiwan,” we have selected and translated a number of representative works in the hope that they will help English readers to better understand this special phenomenon, the literary works it produced, and its place in the history of Taiwan literature.

台灣經歷日本殖民統治長達五十年（1895-1945），對台灣社會、政治、經濟、文化、生活各方面，以及戰後台灣的整體發展都具有極大的影響。日本殖民統治期間推行的皇民化運動，也是了解這段台灣歷史不能不正視的現象，而由此產生的「皇民文學」，更是台灣文學史上無可否認的一頁。本叢刊特地以「台灣皇民文學」為主題，選譯一些具有代表性的作品，希望有助於英語讀者對台灣文學史上這一特殊現象和所產生的文學作品，能有所認識和了解。