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The boom of Korean Mystery Novels between the Late 1970s and the 1980s and its Socio-cultural Context

  • Journal of Humanities
  • 2022, (85), pp.193-234
  • DOI : 10.31310/HUM.085.05
  • Publisher : Institute for Humanities
  • Research Area : Humanities > Other Humanities
  • Received : April 6, 2022
  • Accepted : May 5, 2022
  • Published : May 31, 2022

An Heayun 1

1성균관대학교 동아시아학술원

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the period between the late 1970s and 1980s, when the detective novels created the biggest boom since Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, examines the process of the term from ‘a detective novel’ to ‘a mystery novel’, and analyzes the socio-cultural background that drove the mystery novel boom. In the 1970s and the 1980s, Korean mystery novels reached their greatest golden age after the nation’s liberation. With the emergence of a popular writer named Kim Seong-jong, a complete collection of mystery novels was published, and the mystery novel became a bestseller. In addition, TV dramas based on mystery novels were produced as well, and the reproduction of the genre in other media is also active. The fact that these changes occurred during the period when the powerful ruling ideology under the military dictatorship that created the Yushin (Revitalizing Reform) Constitution was in operation and when the nation entered into a high-growth and consumer-capitalist society raises the need to explain the blossoming of mystery novels in this period in a socio-cultural context. This paper has first analyzed the change in the image of Korean mystery novels as the term ‘detective novel’ was replaced with the term ‘mystery novel’. In particular, through the change from a famous detective to an ordinary cop, the mystery novel could demonstrate its appeal to the public while ssecuring dailiness and sociality. In addition, I tried to explain the relationship between the popularity of popular novels that started in the early and mid-1970s and the boom of mystery novels, and explain that the popularity of mystery novels influenced the sense of the advent of mass society. I also pointed out that through the boom in the collection of mystery novels, readers could come in contact with mystery novels of various genres, and that there was an aspect of mystery novels being used in the context of the popularity of success literature at the time. Finally, it was discussed that the emergence of the new popular media outlets in the form of sports newspapers resulted in the emergence of popular mystery novel writers and male fans as the main readership.

Citation status

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