Writing organization/romancing fictocriticism

Abstract

A provocation … the minds of my generation of organizational theorists are haunted by the spectre of scientific discourse, shoehorned into dry genres, bullied by audit regimes that try to wring the passion out of thought. Without gaiety, the science that calls us has no exuberance, it cannot dance. What are the possibilities for writing about organizations that allows the heart's instincts to be followed, the vast possibilities of expression to be explored and enjoyed? I explore this through a form of writing known as fictocriticism – a writing engaged in genre-bending as a literary and theoretical engagement with existence and selfhood. Why import this term into organization studies? Might fictocriticism have some value to ‘us’ who locate ourselves here? I am engaging in a form of romance; a courtship of ideas from elsewhere. What might result from this union is not clear, but it offers hope, excitement and promise.

Keywords:

• experimental writing
• fictocriticism
• genre
• moving
• organization studies
• writing

Acknowledgements

I gratefully acknowledge the late Professor Alison Lee who introduced me to the idea of fictocriticism. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the Gender, Work and Organization 7th Biennial International Interdisciplinary Conference at Keele University, UK (27–29 June 2012), as well as at seminars for the Interdisciplinary Discourse Analysis Group, Cardiff University, UK (9 February 2012), Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK (16 November 2012), Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Sydney, Australia (4 September 2013) and the Centre for Management and Organization Research, University of Technology Sydney, Australia (5 September 2013). I thank participants at each of those events for helpful commentary and critical questions.