“The Convergence of Twain”: A Thought on the Possibility of Cooperation between American Literary Studies and Corporate Culture Studies

Abstract

This paper attempts to find a linking point between two quite disparate academic disciplines―literary studies and organizational culture studies in management. First, it emphasizes that the era of literary realism and naturalism coincides with the rise of Big Business. The corporations were creating their own distinct organizational culture, and unprecedentedly many of Americans were absorbed into it as the corporate jobs increased greatly. Therefore it is highly probable such changes―particularly the changes inside the organizations―were reflected in their works. This paper presents two streams of the research on corporate culture: one by social scientists and the other by the scholars in organizational studies. It emphasizes that, though their motivations were to improve business organizations’ performance, they also need to define what culture in organizational settings is in order to understand organizational culture. Finally, this paper suggests that Schein’s model may be used in literary studies.