Blake's ‘London’: Diabolical reading and poetic place in organisational theorising

Abstract

We read Blake's poem ‘London’ aimed at sensitising readers to the early nineteenth century plight of London's most vulnerable citizens. Our reading surfaces several issues relevant to organisational theorising: the role of ‘diabolical reading’ strategies in creating mental flux through textual flux; the use of visual and poetic symbolism to contest the language systems implicated in the psychic effects of institutional domination; and Blake's narrative voice as wandering Bard, which places the poetic body at the centre of responding to spatial practices of the city. We argue Blake's art still inspires because it haunts the reader as it continually renews itself in re-reading and so both inscribes and incorporates, making the word, flesh. Blake's philosophy also highlights the creative poetic subject ‘placed’ in their city-landscape and so provides a pathway through inscription and incorporation. Implications for organisational theory are explained.