“With Edges of Rage and Despair”: Anger and the Poetry of Office Life

Abstract

In the past two decades, management studies have made significant use of poetry both in research projects and teaching contexts. During the same time, numerous collections of poetry have appeared focusing on business life with contributions in particular by office workers. This article addresses the relationship between management research on poetry and the actual poetry in these ever more frequently appearing collections. Most work in management studies focuses on the form of poetry, rather than the content. By applying the concepts of “evoked knowledge” and “shared texts” from Antonio Strati’s organizational aesthetics, the content themes are made visible. Persistent in these collections is the appearance of the related feelings of anger, rage, and despair. An interpretive exploration of relevant poems illustrates how this kind of analysis can contribute to a broader understanding of workplace-anger issues, one that fully and deeply incorporates the inner lives of workers.