This essay connects the mass-produced books of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories since 1930 and the Hardy Boys Adventures since 1927, with the discourses of self-help and self-improvement and argues that the effects these books have on their young readers instigate the formation of a very specific (white, middle class) subjectivity. This modern mode of relating to oneself includes an adjustable, self-assertive, self-monitoring personality, which can be understood as an answer to the challenges of the Second Industrialization and the contingencies connected to the acceleration, fragmentation, de-familiarizations, and individualization of modernity. At the same time, the essay argues, the novels also include a very specific position in terms of gender, race, and class, which, in spite of the figure of Nancy Drew, remains fundamentally linked to the values of patriarchy, the middle class and whiteness.

本文将 Stratemeyer Syndicate 大量生产的书籍、1930 年以来的南希·德鲁神秘故事和 1927 年以来的哈代男孩历险记与自助和自我完善的话语联系起来，并论证了这些书籍对他们的年轻人的影响读者煽动形成非常具体的（白人，中产阶级）主观性。这种与自己相关的现代模式包括一种可调整的、自信的、自我监控的人格，这可以被理解为对第二次工业化挑战以及与加速、分裂、陌生化和个性化相关的偶然事件的回应现代性。同时，文章认为，小说还包含了一个非常具体的性别、种族和阶级立场，尽管有南希·德鲁的形象，