Abstract
In this chapter, Corine Vedrine analyses the myths produced by Michelin with their typology, structure, sources, transmission modes and meanings. The myths about the Michelin company are therefore symbolic narratives about its origins and its history, which depict each successive boss as a hero whose greatness becomes an identifying trait, and whose contents reveals the foundations of the rules and values embodied by the Michelin family and the company. Perceived as self-evident, these values dictate ways of being and doing inherent in a spirit to which mythological construction fully contributes, and re-establishes the legitimacy of a business policy. Moreover, the myth helps to nurture the links among group members who are driven by the same “passion”, and to formulate at the same time a common history, and therefore a collective identity, as well as recognition, as in recognising oneself, and being grateful.
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Notes
- 1.
Since then and as far as I can tell, at least another eleven works have been written about the company, most of them following Édouard Michelin’s death.
- 2.
It is worth pointing out that, to this day, no company executive has published a testimony.
- 3.
Academic papers by university students should be added to this (as mentioned in the bibliography) but as they have not been published, they have not contributed to the construction of the myth.
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Védrine, C. (2019). The Construction of a Myth. In: The Spirit of Capitalism According to the Michelin Company. Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96610-6_3
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