Let’s Become Dazzling Heroes of Capitalism: South Korean Perspectives on Japanese “Business Novels” in the 1970s and 1980s

After the overthrow of President Rhee Syngman (Yi Sŭngman) in 1960, South Korea experienced a boom in translations of Japanese literature. Japanese fiction has remained popular ever since, but the reception of these texts has always responded to the needs of the times. This article investigates South Korean perspectives on the popular fiction genre of “business novels” during the 1970s and 1980s, arguing that this literature served as a tool not only to address the complex postcolonial relationship with Japan but also to deal with domestic issues such as South Korea’s rapid economic development and the anxieties and desires it brought with it.