Abstract
This chapter is based on a study carried out as a narrative collage – a research method aimed at the collection of fictive narratives from a chosen group of social actors concerned with a certain idea or phenomenon (Kostera 2006). The researcher asks respondents to compose a story on a given topic or beginning with a given sentence. I have asked a number of different social actors with various organizational experiences, students, researchers, management practitioners, and artists, from different countries, to write short fictive stories beginning with the phrase: “The big banner by the entrance proclaimed: ‘Happy New Year 2021!’ A group of students entered campus and looked around. Adam spoke first: ‘Don’t know about you, but I…’.” The stories are to be between 1/2 and 3 pages A4, any genre, any plot or plots, wherever imagination takes their authors. They are welcome to invent further characters, add context, place and detail. I read and interpret the stories, looking into the ways in which the authors use or approach characters, plots and archetypes, and in particular the idea of the university as envisaged in the story. The complete process does not offer any general theories or even local models about how reality works; instead, if it is carried out well, it throws new light on a part of the cultural context of organizing located within domain of imagination. Imagination is also a reality, even if it is not material. It has its laws and its rules, and can be regarded as a mental space where innovative and creative thinking can take place, and thus where potential for change originates.
Kostera, Monika (2006) “The narrative collage as research method”. Storytelling, Self, Society, 2/2: 5–27.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
There also exists a practitioner-oriented variation of the method, proposed by Henrietta Nilson (2009), where the respondents are requested to contribute with stories images, and music, and the aim is to, first, explore and then, animate, the creative potential of the organization.
- 2.
Most of the stories were written by Polish authors; however, I did not notice any direct cultural inclination of the narratives. I have received the permission for using the stories in this publication. Most of the permissions were received either via email or in spoken communication.
- 3.
10
References
Agar, M. (1996). The professional stranger: An informal introduction to ethnography. New York: Academic Press.
Benjamin, B. (1936) The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction. Retrieved on 2 April 2016. https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm.
Benjamin, W. (1974) On the concept of history. (Gesammelten Schriften I:2. Suhrkamp Verlag. Frankfurt am Main) Retrieved 4 December 2015 http://members.efn.org/~dredmond/ThesesonHistory.html.
Benjamin, W. (2015). Pasaże (The Arcades Project). Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie.
Czarniawska, B. (2004). A narrative approach to organization studies. London: SAGE.
Czarniawska, B. (2014). Social science research: From field to desk. Los Angeles: Sage.
Czarniawska, B., & Carl Rhodes, C. (2006). Strong plots: The relationship between popular culture and management theory and practice. In P. Gagliardi & B. Czarniawska (Eds.), Management and humanities (pp. 195–218). London: Edward Elgar.
Czarniawska-Joerges, B., & Pierre Guillet, D. M. (Eds.). (1994). Good novels, better management: Reading organizational realities. Harwood: Chur.
Eco, U. (2000). Kant and the platypus: Essays on language and cognition. London: Vintage.
Gabriel, Y. (2000). Storytelling in organizations: Facts, fictions, and fantasies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Greenberg, C. (1992). Art and culture: Critical essays. Boston: Beacon Press.
Hofstede, G., & Boddewyn, J. J. (1977). Introduction: Power in organization. International Studies of Management and Organization, 7(1): 3–7.
Ingarden, R. (1960). O dziele literackim: Badania z pogranicza antologii, teorii języka i filozofii. Warszawa: PWN.
Kostera, M. (2006). The narrative collage as research method. Storytelling, Self, Society, 2(2): 5–27.
Kostera, M. (2007). Organisational ethnography: @methods and inspirations. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Kostera, M. (2012). Organizations and archetypes. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Kostera, M. (2014). Occupy management! Inspirations and ideas for self-organization and self-management. London: Routledge.
Mills, C. W. (1959). The sociological imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.
Morgan, G. (1993). Imaginization: New mindsets for seeing, organizing and managing. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Nilson, H. (2009). Henriettas collage: Kreative kvinnor I familjeforetag. Vaxjo: Drivkraft.
Rorty, R. (1989). Contingency, irony and solidarity. Cambridge: Cambridge U.P.
Van Maanen, J. (1988). Tales of the field: On writing ethnography. Chicago – London: University of Chicago Press.
Van Maanen, J. (Ed.). (1995). Representation in ethnography. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Weick, Karl, E. (1995). Sensemaking in Organizations, Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Zygmunt Bauman. (2011). Collateral damage. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kostera, M. (2017). 2021: A Campus Odyssey. In: Izak, M., Kostera, M., Zawadzki, M. (eds) The Future of University Education. Palgrave Critical University Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46894-5_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46894-5_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-46893-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-46894-5
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)