This collection of essays examines the representationof subject cultures in the English novel from the 18thto the 21st century. It draws upon the work of AndreasReckwitz and connects his sociological theorieswith other approaches to subjectivity. This approachis innovative since to this date no extended studyexists that discusses subject cultures and Reckwitz'sconcepts from a literary studies perspective.The essays concentrate on points of transition betweensubject cultures and demonstrate that theEnglish novel functions as a key tool in articulatingas well as negotiating concepts of modern subjectivity.

PrefacePart I: Theorising Subject CulturesMeinhard Winkgens: "Reckwitz's Theory of Subject Culture inWestern Modernity."Part II: The Individual between Bourgeois and RomanticSubject CultureMaurus Roller: "Samuel Richardson's Pamela: TheAristocratic Subject and the Ascendency of the Middle ClassCultural Order."Nadine Aldag: "Jane Eyre as an Individual Subject Betweenthe Bourgeois and the Romantic Subject Culture."Meinhard Winkgens: "Re-reading David Copperfield as aPolysemic Imaginative Exploration of Bourgeois Subject Cultureand its Supplementary Romantic Other."Part III: Creative Transformations of the Organisation ManIsa Maubach: "Metatheoretical reflections on the creativityimperative."Marie-Theres Wieme: "A.S. Byatt's The Children's Book."Sarah Heinz: "Challenging the Organisation Man: Normalityand Normalisation in the Contemporary Anglophone Novel."Stefan Glomb: "The Hybrid Individual in Ian McEwan's ChesilBeach."Nora Kuster: "Bringing down the house: De/Constructing20th century middle-class subjectivity in JG Ballard's HighRise."Stella Butter: "Representations of Ideal Homes in EnglishCulture: Gracious Living and the Creative Self in MatthewReynolds' Designs for a Happy Home."