Narratives

The Good Manager: An Archetypical Quest for Morally Sustainable Leadership

by Jerzy Kociatkiewicz

Co-authored with Monika Kostera
forthcoming in Organization Studies (early view available online)
DOI: 10.1177/0170840612445124

This paper explores the potential for morally sustainable leadership, i.e. leadership with an awareness of both light... more This paper explores the potential for morally sustainable leadership, i.e. leadership with an awareness of both light and dark sides contained in the role of the leader, as symbolized by the archetype of the king. A narrative enquiry aiming at the study of fictive stories authored by management theorists and practitioners from different contexts, interweaving collective individual elements, brings to light how issues of leadership goodness are related to each other and to other themes. The stories are presented as archetypical tales, that is, stories that touch profound aspects of culture and the psyche. They reveal what happens when people are asked to imagine a good manager, and how this results in tragic ironic representations, rather than tales of straightforward goodness.

'Alternative Memories' and the Construction of a Sexual Abuse Narrative

by Jo Woodiwiss

The quest for quality: translation of a mythical idea

by Monika Kostera

Co-authored with Dorota Dobosz-Bourne
Published in: (2007) Journal of Organizational Change Management 20/1, p. 60-73.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the model of the translation of particularly important ideas for the... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the model of the translation of particularly important ideas for the organization and its context, called mythical ideas.

Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on ethnographic research.

Findings – It is found that change processes based on mythical ideas are especially dynamic but also very vulnerable. The consequences of failure can be vital for the organization and its environment.

Originality/value – The paper explores the outcomes to which the translation of a mythical idea can lead. The findings are of value for people involved in organizational change processes.

Personal performatives: Collecting poetical definitions of management

by Monika Kostera

Published in: (1997) Organization 4/3, p. 345-353.

In this paper I present several personal performative definitions of management which I collected from a group of... more In this paper I present several personal performative definitions of management which I collected from a group of students at the Warsaw University's School of Management. The definitions are in the form of short poems. They are rooted in the students' everyday lives and observations as the students take part in management education in Poland, encounter alternative (non-mainstream) ways of looking at organization and management, and experience Poland's transition to a market economy. The poems are ironic and express the author's need for a creative reconstruction of reality.

Templates of Ideas: The charm of storytlling in academic discourse

by Monika Kostera

Co-authored with Jerzy Kociatkiewicz
Published (1999) in Knowledge Transfer 2/1: 49-69
Unformatted copy

In this text, we argue that the stereotypical, traditional way of academic writing may be disempowering and inhibit... more In this text, we argue that the stereotypical, traditional way of academic writing may be disempowering and inhibit the development of new ideas and practices. We characterize the stereotypical template for academic writing, reflecting on how expression and communication works in relationship to such templates. We illustrate our argument with students’ images of fiction versus academic writing, and an own attempt at “cross-template” translation. The discourse can be enriched, we believe, by colorful, engaging storytelling – a development which is taking place with the growing interest in narrative knowledge.

When spaces meet

by Monika Kostera

Published in: (2004) Tamara Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry, 3/3, p. 56-66.

The aim of this article is to propose a narrative (syntagmatic) theory of how a meeting between spirituality and... more The aim of this article is to propose a narrative (syntagmatic) theory of how a meeting between spirituality and organizing can occur. The theory is composed of fictive stories collected by me from various authors. It takes the form of another story, a kind of meta-story, authored by me. I look upon spirituality as awareness, and I associate it with smooth space in Deleuze and Guattari’s (1996) terminology. Organizing is to me an ongoing process, both based on and enabling communication,
and I link it to more striated space. Authors were asked to think about a meeting between those spaces represented by minimal symbols and compose a story. I have organized the narratives according to their main plot and storyline into stories of clash, enclosure, merger, and experience. In the first the spaces conflict; in the second, one turns of to be part of the other; in the third they unite in another space; and in the last they co-construct a novel understanding. I then discuss the plots,
the outcomes of the plots, and how the plots work to produce the outcome. Finally, I explore the symbolism of the encounter between spirituality and organizing, looking for possibilities of greater
understanding and inspiration.

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Rational Manager: Organizational reason and its discontents

by Monika Kostera

Co-authored with Jerzy Kociatkiewicz
forthcoming (2012) in Scandinavian Journal of Management (early view available online)
DOI: 10.1016/j.scaman.2012.01.003

Rationality has since long been one of the central been issues in the discourse of management. Among the classics... more Rationality has since long been one of the central been issues in the discourse of management. Among the classics voices propagating a reductionist rationalism dominated and there are still many contexts where such a view is taken for granted. On the other hand, critics since the times of classics have been arguing for a less linear approach to management and management thinking. However, little attention has been paid to some of the different dimensions of management rationality, such as imagination. This paper sets out to address this gap in knowledge through presenting a narrative study focused on a literary character well known for his rationality, Sherlock Holmes, and revealing that this, to many, very epitome of rationality is actually an example of an extended type of rationality, including imagination. Following the fictional protagonist of our study, we consider some aspects of its relevance for management thought and practice.

The narrative collage as research method

by Monika Kostera

Published in: (2006) STORYTELLING, SELF, SOCIETY 2/2, P. 5-27.

This paper is about the narrative collage. It discusses the narrative turn in organization studies and considers the... more This paper is about the narrative collage. It discusses the narrative turn in organization studies and considers the following questions: Why are stories important for interaction and knowledge? What can social scientists learn from storytelling
traditions? What are the different uses of stories in the study of organizations? Further, it focuses on the uses of one specific type of story in organizational research: fictive stories. There are several ways in which fiction can be used in social studies and the narrative collage is presented as a method particularly well suited for studies where imagination plays a central role. The idea of performative definitions, or linguistic statements that define the state of things (Austin, 1973/ 1993), is described as
an epistemological ground for the application of such stories.
The paper ends with a methodological section, where the narrative collage is portrayed among other similar research methods: ethnography and Action Research. Finally, a model of the process of collecting short stories for research purposes as well as in a practice setting.is proposed

Holding up the Aegis: On the construction of social roles by Polish IT-professionals

by Monika Kostera

co-authored with Agnieszka Postuła, published in (2011) Tamara Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry, 9/1-2, p. 75-84.

This paper takes up the self-construction of the social roles of Polish IT professionals. We conducted an ethnographic... more This paper takes up the self-construction of the social roles of Polish IT professionals. We conducted an ethnographic study and observed that many of our interviewees defined their roles by negation and by invoking the internal and often hermetic aspects of their profession. Labeling this practice “holding up the shield,” we trace its archetypical roots. The recurrent use of this practice makes a change in agency in the process of constructing the role possible, to the benefit of the IT professionals.

Uncommon genetic syndromes and narrative production- Int.J.Dev. Dis.

by Magdalena Capo Juan

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Rational Manager: Organizational reason and its discontents

by Jerzy Kociatkiewicz

Co-authored with Monika Kostera
forthcoming (2012) in Scandinavian Journal of Management (early view available online)
DOI: 10.1016/j.scaman.2012.01.003
Unformatted copy

Rationality has since long been one of the central been issues in the discourse of management. Among the classics... more Rationality has since long been one of the central been issues in the discourse of management. Among the classics voices propagating a reductionist rationalism dominated and there are still many contexts where such a view is taken for granted. On the other hand, critics since the times of classics have been arguing for a less linear approach to management and management thinking. However, little attention has been paid to some of the different dimensions of management rationality, such as imagination. This paper sets out to address this gap in knowledge through presenting a narrative study focused on a literary character well known for his rationality, Sherlock Holmes, and revealing that this, to many, very epitome of rationality is actually an example of an extended type of rationality, including imagination. Following the fictional protagonist of our study, we consider some aspects of its relevance for management thought and practice.

Stories of Engagement with E-Learning: Revisiting the Taxonomy of Learning

by Geoffrey Lautenbach

Tivers, J. and Rakić, T. (forthcoming in 2012) Introducing the narratives of travel and tourism. In Tivers, J. and Rakić, T. (eds) Narratives of Travel and Tourism. Ashgate

by Tijana Rakić

Rakić, T. (forthcoming in 2012) Narratives of national versus ‘universal’ belonging of the Athenian Acropolis in travel guidebooks. In Tivers, J. and Rakić, T. (eds) Narratives of Travel and Tourism. Ashgate.

by Tijana Rakić

(2002) ‘Erasing Sexuality from the blackboard’. Australian Feminist Studies, 17(38), 135-149.

by Maria Tamboukou

This paper explores certain images and perceptions that British women teachers at the turn of the nineteenth century,... more This paper explores certain images and perceptions that British women teachers at the turn of the nineteenth century, used to position themselves discourses of sexuality. Starting from the assumption that sex matters in the construction of subjectivities, I have further suggested that sexuality has created an arena of conflicting and often contradictory discourses that have influenced past and contemporary perceptions related to the persona of the woman teacher. A point that has been highlighted in the discussion of this paper is that one of the most powerful images has been that of the asexual woman teacher. However the autobiographical writings of ‘real’ women teachers have spoken differently. They have revealed women who were deeply concerned with making sense of their sex, acknowledging their desires and making specific life choices. In doing so, they often found themselves entangled within the discursive restraints of wifehood and motherhood, the only recognisable female sexual roles of their era. Although they did not reject the social necessity of these roles, they resisted the gendered structure of power relations within them and sought to recreate them by finding some other spaces and different vocabularies through which to express their sexuality. I finally suggest that far from being the key to unlock the secret of her existence, sexuality has become a passage for the female self, to work upon herself.

Chanted Narratives of Indigenous People: Context and Content

by nita mathur

Nerlich, B., Clarke, D. D., Johnson, S. (2003). The first 'designer baby': The role of narratives, cliches and metaphors in the year 2000 media debate. Science as Culture

by Brigitte Nerlich

Sponsored by the Leverhulme Trust

no abstract no abstract

Narrativas, identidades e ação política na pós-modernidade

by Andrea Mattos

People and Their Pasts by Paul Ashton and Hilda Kean

by Erin Jessee

An Imagined Drama of Competitive Opposition in Carter's Scrivo in Vento, with Notes on Narrative, Symmetry, Quantitative Flux and Heraclitus

by Joshua B. Mailman

Music Analysis, v.28, ii-ii (2009)

Carter's music poses struggles of opposition, for instance in timbre (Double Concerto), space (String Quartet No. 3)... more Carter's music poses struggles of opposition, for instance in timbre (Double Concerto), space (String Quartet No. 3) or pulse (String Quartet No. 5). His preference for the all-interval tetrachords, 4–Z15 [0, 1, 4, 6] and 4–Z29 [0, 1, 3, 7], is also well known. From these facets of Carter's music, I develop a narrative interpretation of his Petrarch sonnet–inspired solo flute piece, Scrivo in Vento (1991). Specifically, I forge narrative pathways by imagining the two tetrachords as active agents opposed in competition. Previous Scrivo analyses (Capuzzo 2002; Childs 2006) stress continuity by revealing Q-transforms and common-note voice leading between the tetrachords. While acknowledging such features, my analysis emphasises oppositional struggle by tracing the tetrachords as separate entities which cooperate and conflict as they manoeuvre to outdo each other.

The analysis advances three theses: (1) it guides listening to and reading Scrivo in a way which resonates with Carter's concern for the aesthetics of oppositional struggle, his choice of a sonnet as inspiration and his affinity for all-interval tetrachords; (2) it shows that music-analytical detail can be organised into dramatic narratives by (a) projecting dramatic roles onto categories asserted by a formal theory and (b) treating the formal theory's relations metaphorically as actions performed by each role as the musical work unfolds; and (3) it shows how detailed pc-set analysis can support a Heraclitean view of music: a flux of opposing forces seeking and resisting unity.