Kafka’s mythology

Organization, bureaucracy and the limits of sensemaking

Bibliographic Data

ID9891504
AuthorsIan Munro (0000-0003-3953-9372, Universität Innsbruck, corresponding author), Iain Munro (Universität Innsbruck), Christian Huber (0000-0002-1151-458X, Helmut-Schmidt-University – University of the Federal Armed Forces, Germany)
Year2012
Volume65
Issue4
Pages523-543
Publication date2012-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Relations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-7267 • E-ISSN: 1741-282X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0018726711430558
OpenAlexW2169639861
LanguageEN
Citations received29
References cited52

Franz Kafka merits special consideration among the writers of the 20th century for his portrayal of organizational life and the ambivalent character of the social institutions that ostensibly exist to help us. In this article we will draw on his works to enrich our understanding of organizations in three key respects: i) in terms of his creation of a mythology of organization; ii) by developing the concept of ‘counter-mythology’ to extend existing theory on narrative approaches to organization studies; and iii) drawing on these counter-mythologies to expose the limits of sensemaking in organizations. Using Kafka’s counter-mythologies as a framework, this analysis reveals a bias towards plausibility in the existing sensemaking literature, in contrast to which we suggest the development of more counterinductive approaches to the study of organization

Ambivalence · Archetype · Art · Bureaucracy · Character (mathematics · Epistemology · Literature · Management · Mythology · Narrative · Organizational theory · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Salience (neuroscience · Sensemaking · Sociology · Franz Kafka Literary Studies · Law · Management and Organizational Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory

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