The accounting meta-metaphor of the Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot
Purpose: Using the theory of sensibility and McClellandet al.’s (2013) metaphorical analysis, this study aims to analyse the accounting metaphors and meta-metaphor of The Hollow Men, a poem written by T. S. Eliot. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis uses McClellandet al.’s (2013) five-step procedure to ascertain the poem’s metaphor use. Findings: The Hollow Men depicts accountants as ritualistic and accounting voices as quiet and meaningless while its meta-metaphor conveys accounting as rites and shadows. Research limitations/implications: Although The Hollow Men’s use of Form 4 metaphors, where neither figurative nor literal source term is named, places an onus on the reader to infer meaning from accounting metaphor use, the analysis provides readers with a valuable structure for evincing accounting metaphors that present pervasive accounting issues facing the modern world. Practical implications: Accountants, according to The Hollow Men, are hollow, devotees to plunderers and property and rain dancers. The Hollow Men situates the quest for accounting as a ritual for order and the preservation of the status quo. Social implications: The Hollow Men’s mages of accounting immersion in rites and shadows accord with the conceptual metaphors of accounting as magic and accounting as history. Originality/value: The originality of this study rests in its introduction to McClellandet al.’s (2013) metaphorical analysis of accounting research.
Year of publication: |
2020
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Authors: | Brown, Alistair M. |
Published in: |
Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management. - Emerald, ISSN 1176-6093, ZDB-ID 2243979-1. - Vol. 18.2020, 1 (09.12.), p. 26-52
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Publisher: |
Emerald |
Saved in:
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