Root Metaphor Research Articles

Picturing Suffering: The Moral Dilemmas in Gazing at Photographs of Human Anguish

ABSTRACTPhotographs of human suffering inundate everyday life in the United States. The camera lens brings the human gaze into the intimate anguish of state sponsored torture and “natural disaster.” This essay argues that photographs of suffering in contemporary culture present a nexus of ethical and moral issues. These issues arise from how photographs represent suffering “others” and how these images inform collective response to human anguish. This essay interrogates this intersection through the lens of Christian ethics' root metaphor ofimago Dei. First, the essay explores the power and privilege that are invisible in the act of gazing upon a photograph of human suffering. Second, Kevin Carter's 1994 Pulitzer Prize winning photo of a Sudanese girl-child is deconstructed through the use of visual cultural studies. This analysis illustrates that photographs are not a literal depiction of suffering but rather a cultural representation which deeply condition the knowledge of human suffering. Finally, the essay argues that the photo is an invitation for the viewer to become an agent, not a spectator whose morality is realized in the sociality ofimago Deiin suffering.

An analysis of the relationship between the organizational culture and the performance of staff work groups in schools and the development of an explanatory model

This article analyses the concept of organizational culture and the relationship between the organizational culture and the performance of staff work groups in schools. The article draws upon a study of 12 schools in Wales, UK, which despite being in disadvantaged settings have high levels of pupil attainment. A model is developed linking the organizational culture of the staff group to performance as measured by pupil attainment using the conceptual analysis and the interpretation of the research findings. In the model, organizational culture, as a root metaphor, is defined by the organizing metaphors ‘productive’, ‘strong’ and ‘highly inclusive’. The absence of substantial subcultures, the head teacher’s leadership and reflective practice are important influences on the overall organizational culture and play a part in linking organizational culture and performance. In the model, the organizational culture underpins practices that bear directly on the primary task which is in itself of considerable cultural importance. The primary task has two dimensions. The first is concerned with optimizing current teaching for learning and the second with improving future teaching for learning. A task of this kind, its cultural significance and an organizational culture that underpins work on the task are likely to lead to high performance.

Resonance tropes in corporate philanthropy discourse

This paper explores corporate charitable giving disclosures in order to question the extent to which corporations can claim that their philanthropy activities are charitable at all. Exploration of these issues is carried out by means of a tropological analysis that focuses on the different linguistic tropes within the philanthropy disclosures of 52 companies, namely metaphor and synecdoche. The results reveal a number of complex and contradictory things. Primarily, the master metaphor of ‘altruism’ projected by the corporate disclosures is ideologically at odds with the more business case‐oriented discourse that shapes the disclosures. This contradiction is put into starker contrast by the existence of a root metaphor, whereby the recipients of corporate philanthropy are presented as the ‘deserving poor’. Synecdochal devices are present within the corporate disclosures, whereby employee initiatives that are independent of corporate strategies are used to confer attributes onto the disclosures that bolster the master metaphor of ‘altruism’. As such, corporate philanthropy is presented by the paper as a structurally incoherent discourse and yet one that has implications for both extracting greater value from various societal groups and in defining, on behalf of civil society, what is a worthy cause.

On ecological reflections: the tensions of cultivating ecojustice and youth environmentalism

I respond to Zeyer and Roth’s (2009) “A Mirror of Society” by elaborating on how the idea of interpretive repertoires is grounded by education philosophy and sociology. Vernacular languages are carried forward collectively from individuals who lived during a particular period of time, inculcated as root metaphors, which frame our relationships with others. It follows that metaphors (or interpretive repertoires) frame Swiss relationships with others, and what serves as Swiss goals for the environment and environmental protection are deeply embedded in some past conceptualizations of how a society should develop in the world. Indeed these youth’s repertoires are “a mirror of society.” But how do we know whether Swiss ideals are cultivating good, right, or just relationships, and embody a morally defensible environmentalism? Zeyer and Roth emphasize that teaching is a cultural process, which I agree with, but there is a contradiction in the idea that curriculum should be designed in a way that allows students to expand their existing repertoires without culturally mediated changes. Clearly students in Zeyer and Roth’s study feel limited as to what they can do about the environment and environmental protection, in relation to outside influences such as US consumerism. Ecojustice, environmentalism, and sustainability should begin to dissolve this feeling of powerlessness. The purpose of this response is to show why cultural mediation is needed for defensible youth action.

Working toward the De‐essentialization of Identity Categories in Conflict and Postconflict Societies: Israel, Cyprus, and Northern Ireland

During the past decade, we have conducted research in our own countries, all of which are considered conflict or postconflict societies: Israel, Cyprus, and Northern Ireland. We have focused on a variety of topics related to peace education, reconciliation, and coexistence. Giving special emphasis to the formation of identity in educational settings, two of us have investigated primarily in integrated schools (in Israel and Northern Ireland), while the third has conducted research in multicultural schools (in Cyprus). We believe that a comparative study of these three settings is valuable because such juxtaposition helps to conceptualize how some aspects of identity are developed in practice in the countries in question (Phillips and Schweisfurth 2006). What has attracted our attention in this body of research are the dissimilar ways in which educators and children attend to identity issues when such issues appear in interactional events. Although educators, in their rhetoric and educational practices, often seem to essentialize ethnic or religious identity and mark events as related to absolute categories, children, though knowledgeable of these categories, seem less attentive to them in their social activities and construct their social worlds with less emphasis on ethnic or religious divisions. Regardless of the differences in identity found in the educational policies of Israel (emphasis on Zionist ethos), Northern Ireland (focus on pluralism), and Cyprus (priority on Greek-centered education), we have observed that, in practice, children’s perspectives differ from those of adult educators. In this article, we examine the ways in which educators engage in educational initiatives geared toward peace, coexistence, and/or conflict resolution and consider the implications for such initiatives if children’s perspectives were taken into consideration. We first summarize the similarities and differences with respect to the sources of conflict in the three societies. Then we offer short descriptions of the educational initiatives under examination and the sociopolitical con

Making imaginary worlds real: The case of expensing employee stock options

West [West, B. (2003). Professionalism and accounting rules. London: Routledge] and Chambers [Chambers, R. J. (1966). Accounting evaluation and economic behavior. Houston: Scholars Book Company] have provocatively argued that financial reporting has reached a state of near-total incoherence. In this paper, we argue that a source of this incoherence is the transformation of the US accounting academy into a sub-discipline of financial economics, a transformation in which accounting became a servant of the imaginary world of neoclassical economics. After noting the unusually prominent role of rules within the accounting profession, we describe the displacement of accounting’s centuries-old root metaphor of accountability by the metaphor of information usefulness, and situate that displacement within neoliberalism, a broader political movement that arose after World War II. Finally, we use SFAS 123R, the recently issued stock option standard, as a case study of the incoherence that West and Chambers assert. Through various issues – such as reflexivity, theory paradox, and unexplained questions of responsibility – we demonstrate the logical inconsistencies involved in SFAS 123F. The incoherence of stock option reporting rules raises serious questions about the information metaphor as a foundation for either individual rules or the standard setting process. The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) attempts to make the imaginary world of neoclassical economics real have resulted in rules which are not defensible.

Daughter Zion and Her Place in God's Household

AbstractThe metaphorical phrases Daughter Zion and Daughter Jerusalem are to be understood as appositional genitives referring to the city of Jerusalem in spite of a recent proposal to the contrary. They are part of a larger literary and cultural deposit of personifying the city and should be interpreted in that light. The kinship connotations of the city as "daughter" are then explored and located in the larger root metaphor of YHWH's household, along with certain of the city's other roles (e.g. spouse, widow and mother).

God our king

This article discusses whether the metaphor of “king” can still be used in Christian God-talk. Firstly, it is argued that the “king” metaphor for God is an indispensable key metaphor in both the Old and the New Testament. “King” has become a root metaphor in the canonical text of the Old Testament and Jesus’ proclamation of the coming kingdom of God presupposes that God is king. Secondly, the Biblical meanings of the metaphor are explored. God’s kingship implies his authority and power to fight the forces of evil, to liberate and lead his people and to control the events of history. Modified by Jesus Christ, God’s kingship is universal, non-violent and in accordance with his love. Then, the use of the metaphor in contemporary God-talk is considered. Because “king” is the only metaphor that can give expression to God’s ultimate highness and authority, it cannot be replaced by others. In the concluding section the “king” metaphor for God is conceptually explained in terms of the relationship, the agency and the power of God it implies.

Wittgenstein’s Turnabout

We are all familiar with the distinction between the early and the later Wittgenstein, along with the many different interpretations of its significance. I have long been of the opinion that the crucial factor giving rise to the turnabout in Wittgenstein's thinking concerning the nature and function of language was his time spent teaching middle school children in the villages outside of his home city of Vienna. In what follows I shall delineate the rationale that has led me to this conclusion, together with some specific points of connection between his experience as a school teacher and the main facets of his later philosophy. The backdrop for the following reflections is provided by the obvious differences between the metaphors and concrete images found in Wittgenstein's early work, on the one hand, and those in his later work, on the other. Speaking more specifically, the root metaphors that dominate the Philosophical Investigations are decidedly distinct from those controlling the perspective on language expressed in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. I Quite obviously the dominant and common element in the major metaphors in the Tractatus is spatiality. Beginning with the notion of and pictures on down through the correlative concepts of limit, network, and outside', spatial relationships are always at the forefront. This central characteristic provides the point of integration for understanding the Tractatus as a whole, and yet to my its importance has gone largely unmentioned in the literature on the work. There are qualities and limitations inherent within these spatial metaphors which need unpacking. To be more specific, the root metaphor in the Tractatus is not simply spatiality, but is what might be called space. That is to say, the point of view is invariably that of how things would be seen to relate to one another by an outside observer. This theme is particularly well focused in the picture theory of meaning with its emphasis on the mirroring of the common logical form between facts and propositions. Moreover, Wittgenstein's treatment of logical space is in terms of points in relation to one another as seen by an observer, rather than from the perspective of the points themselves. In other words, the stress is not on being at a point but on visualizing a point's position in space in relation to other points, all of which are located outside of the viewer. It is, of course, hardly surprising to encounter this visual-spatial metaphor at this juncture of the history of Western philosophy. It has played a major role in the thought of many thinkers, from Plato's cave through Descartes' clear and distinct ideas to Russell's knowledge by acquaintance. It can be argued that this bias in favor of vision as the primary metaphor in delineating the nature and structure of has led to a distortion of human cognitive experience. The Tractatus in this way serves as the clear-cut culmination of this long tradition, as well as the focus point of the modern philosophical position known as atomism. Yet another important characteristic of this visual space metaphor is its static quality. Throughout Wittgenstein's discussion of there is not the slightest indication of there being any movement, change, or interaction among its constituents. Everything has its place, whether in the realm of the actual or in the realm of the possible, and the logical form of this place is reflected in the language about it, never in the act of speaking itself but only in static propositions. It is a world of cold, crystalline purity structured by a logic which can deal only with being (how things are), not with becoming (how things change). The comprehensive scope and integrating power of this spatial model are obvious, but even Wittgenstein came to feel that the price for these advantages is too high because it results in a distorted view of both the world and language. …

チンパンジーの「文化」と社会性―「知識の伝達メタファー」再考

‘ The metaphor of transmission’ (cognition-transmission model), which is a root metaphor of contemporary primatology, was reconsidered and deconstructed by referring to other academic domains such as anthropology, communication study, psychology and cognitive science. Instead, I introduced another epistemological standpoint, action-practice model, based on the ‘ situated action’ approach, in order to expand the perspective of contemporary ‘ cultural primatology’ and to understand the relationship comprehensively between primate culture and sociality. From this standpoint, I analyzed social interactions along ant-fishing among wild chimpanzees at Mahale, Tanzania. Some situated characters of their social practice, such as attitude depending on others’ actions, moderate exploring proposition to others, and direct reaction to such propositions, were considered to be important to realize such social situation of ant-fishing as a cultural practice of chimpanzees.

The transformational leader as pedagogue, physician, architect, commander, and saint: Five root metaphors in Jack Welch's letters to stockholders of General Electric

We analyse the corpus of CEO letters to stockholders that were signed by a widely revered business leader, Jack Welch, during his tenure as CEO of the General Electric Company [GE], 1981—2000. Our discussion is located within theory pertaining to transformational leadership. We examine Welch's language from the standpoint of how transformational leadership can be conceived as a rhetorical artefact of one-sided dialogue emanating from a powerful leader. We give particular attention to the saturation of Welch's discourse with metaphors, and argue that metaphors illuminate how transformational leadership and the accompanying construct of charisma manifest themselves in practice. Five root metaphors that heightened Welch's persuasive and rhetorical impact on his audience are identified and discussed: Welch as pedagogue , physician, architect, commander and saint . We advocate greater awareness of the rhetorical techniques employed by transformational leaders in attempts to broker compliance with their views.

Strangers in a strange land: Knowing, learning and education for the global knowledge society

Profound changes to established patterns of life, root metaphors, necessary expertise and habits of mind are occurring as a consequence of globalization, information and communications technologies and the shift to a knowledge society. There is now a widening cultural mismatch between what members of the knowledge society need to succeed and what current systems of higher education are geared to offer. Increasingly, the result of this gap is that the products of today's Enlightenment-based socializing systems such as the colleges and universities are ill prepared for the actual challenges of contemporary life, often feeling bewildered and overwhelmed and like “strangers in a strange land.” A paradigmatic revolution in education is needed, but current discussion about reform is couched in the logic of market economics and draws inspiration largely from business strategies such as total quality management. It also remains firmly within the habits of mind and frames of reference of an Industrial Age. To adequately prepare people and communities to thrive in the global knowledge society, revolutionary changes are required in mission, curriculum content, pedagogy and modes of inquiry. The purpose must become explicitly aimed at producing a shift in the deep structures of consciousness and towards the development of transdisciplinary expertise—entirely new literacies and new approaches to learning that both fit the current economic realities and are more attuned to the socio-cultural, psychological and spiritual needs of an emerging global knowledge society.

The Dialectic Tension Between ‘Being’ and ‘Not Being’ a Good Nurse

The aim of this hermeneutic study was to gain a broader understanding of nurses' workload and what characterizes a nurse's experience in terms of the various levels of intensity of nursing care. Twenty-nine nurses participated in seven focus groups. The interpretation process took place in six different phases and the three laws of dialectics were used as interpretation rules. An optimal nursing care intensity level can be understood as a situation characterized by the balance between the intensity of care needed by patients and the external and internal factors of the current nursing care situation. The nurses' work situation can be understood as a dialectic struggle between 'being' and 'not being' a good nurse; this can be said to be the underlying root metaphor. Nursing care can be understood as consisting of 'complex and meaningful caring situations'. Dialectics can be used as a fruitful method of revealing the complexity of clinical reality.

Factors characterizing bursts of figurative language and gesture in college lectures

In an analysis of three college lectures, Corts and Pollio (1999) found that figurative language and gesture often appeared together in ‘bursts’. These bursts were initially characterized as novel figurative expression that centered on the primary topic of the lecture. The current study is an attempt to provide clearer description of how and why figurative language and gesture so often appear together in academic discourse. In addition, this study extends earlier findings to additional speakers and academic disciplines to improve generalizability. In accordance with Corts and Pollio, the bursts of figurative activity are predominately novel rather than cliched, coherent with a root metaphor, and centered around the main topics of the lecture. The present study adds that figures within bursts largely include analogies and metaphor that represent a concept whereas topical figures outside of bursts are descriptive phrases that often include other types of figures such as hyperbole, litote, etc. The regularity of such bursts suggests that they serve an important cognitive function independent of personal style of the lecturer or any demands of a particular academic field.

City, Temple, Stage: Eschatological Architecture and Liturgical Theatrics in New Spain (review)

Reviewed by: City, Temple, Stage: Eschatological Architecture and Liturgical Theatrics in New Spain Dana Leibsohn City, Temple, Stage: Eschatological Architecture and Liturgical Theatrics in New Spain. By Jaime Lara. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2004. Pp. x, 299. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $65.00 cloth. In this interdisciplinary study, Jaime Lara seeks to illuminate the sixteenth-century dialogue between friars and indigenous people that gave rise to spectacular theatrical performances, impressive architectural complexes (such as those at Huejotzingo and Tlaxcala), atrial crosses, and convento murals. Many of the monuments and sites discussed are well-known to scholars of colonial Mexico, yet Lara's erudition makes this book noteworthy. His reflection on the spiritual and historical sources for Christian projects in New Spain forms the core, and real strength of this volume. Eschatology—its evocation and multiple modes of meaning—organizes Lara's examination of conventos in central Mexico and the liturgical dramas that unfolded in these spaces. He focuses explicitly upon the iconography of eschatology, and what he calls "root metaphors," the meta-narratives friars and Nahuas relied upon to construct their understanding of the world. Key examples of these metaphors include cosmic space and holy cities, which Lara anchors in European writings on [End Page 154] apocalypse and millennialism as well as pre-Hispanic Aztec ideas about the end of time. Through clear prose and examples that well build upon each other, Lara suggests how coherent spiritual meaning took shape in Mexico out of ideas and practices of diverse origins. To make his case, Lara engages current scholarship in religion, history and art history. And he challenges the "spiritual conquest" model of evangelization. Indeed, the primary question he poses is one of considerable interest in sixteenth-century studies: how indigenous people both responded to and shaped the Christianity friars brought to the Americas. Lara's analysis of European sources for Mexican urban planning, processional architecture, and theatrical events is marked by depth and perceptive observation. His discussion of Jerusalem stands out in this regard. Across several chapters Lara traces the connotations evoked by Jerusalem and its architecture; drawing upon texts by Joachim of Fiore, painting by Gentile de Fabriano and ordinances issued by Philip II, Lara shows how Jerusalem took form, in Europe and New Spain, as metaphor, holy site and ideal temple-city. While Lara rightly encourages us to see beyond simple dichotomies (i.e., Europeans and indigenous people), his research does not delve substantially into indigenous materials. This skews his narrative. European-derived perspectives and practices consistently emerge as more complex and influential than those with Nahua origins. Moreover, Lara's narrative is ultimately a synthetic one. When relevant, he identifies and traces the Islamic, Judaic and Christian models for specific buildings and ideas, yet the differences between Augustinians and Franciscans or Nahaus and Otomís seem largely inconsequential. This approach has its advantages, underscoring patterns and affinities among different peoples and beliefs. It also obscures very real struggles that transpired in New Spain. For instance, Lara notes the horror of conquest but says little about the actual transmission of Christianity to the Americas or the political power this required. He argues that ritual substitution—a mode of mendicant practice highly dependent upon perceived, if not actual, convergences—was fundamental in New Spain. And he describes missionaries and chatechumens seeking to fill a ritual vacuum, in part by erecting churches atop sacred pre-Hispanic sites. Left largely unexamined, however, is how this 'vacuum' came to be, or how Nahuas and Franciscans might have struggled in varied ways to understand its implications. This book thus portrays the transmission of ideas and images, as well as their transformation in the Americas, as a process largely lacking missteps or reticence (let alone resistance). This is not merely a question of politics. Lara also sidesteps the personal and psychic struggles of friars and indigenous people as they wrestled with the spiritual demands created in sixteenth-century New Spain. For Lara, iconography not social history remains the prime concern. This book is certainly a fine iconographic study, solid in its sources and sharp in its insights. Readers interested in the daily and ritual labor of creating lived meaning from...

Intervention and Culture: An Anthropological Approach to Peace Operations

Culture is increasingly an important consideration in peace operations. Efforts to ameliorate culture-based difficulties between organizations participating in missions and between mission elements and local populations are proliferating. These focus on providing guidance about what to expect and how to act toward individuals from other cultural groups. This article shows that such advice is insufficient for understanding how culture affects peacekeeping. A general framework is presented for linking cultural elements to a deeper symbolic level from which peacekeeping derives its legitimacy, standing, and authority. The importance of the root metaphor of the United Nations as an institution for creating a world in which national interests and cut-throat geopolitical power relations are trumped by collective action is explicated. Peacekeeping is shown to be linked to this root metaphor through a number of behavioral inversions. When those inversions are not part of a peacekeeping mission, the entire instrument of peacekeeping is destabilized.

Metaphors and Sense of Teaching: How these constructs influence novice teachers

The purpose of this study was to identify the root metaphors of secondary classroom teachers and to observe ways in which these constructs influence teachers’ work with their students and their environments. Specifically, five case studies of novice teachers were presented. Results indicated that the metaphor of life as a tree was the most common view and that all five participants held a similar childhood metaphor in which they tended to idealize childhood. Overall, the data showed the persistence of ideas that beginning teachers bring to their university preparation and those beliefs extend into actual classroom practice. Teacher development seemed to be more influenced by the schooling environment rather than the pre‐service preparation the teachers received. Furthermore, these novice teachers felt conflict between their held beliefs and the reality of teaching and schooling. Implications for teacher educators and future research are included.

The withering of criticism

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the core meaning of critical research.Design/methodology/approachIt begins by noting the frequent divergence between “Real” history (which always marches to its own beat) and academic reflection that often fails to follow the beat of a progressive drum. Indeed, rather than facilitating a productive historical movement, scholarship may, at times, window‐dress brutality. These questions are examined by drawing on pertinent literature in social theory and cultural analysis. This work cautions that only continuous, unconditional, self‐reflective criticism provides a navigational path between barbarism and enlightenment. It proposes harnessing our full repository of critical scholarship to renew ever‐relevant forms of praxis (This is not the same notion of “practical” that involves berating workers in suits and white shirts.)FindingsUnfortunately, an examination of contemporary progressive accounting literature exposes fundamental departures from these standards for criticism; that many fields have lapsed into a form relativism, enabling highly conservative political agendas. This degeneration is instigated at the outset of research, through an inappropriate choice of initial object for analysis (or “root metaphor”).Research implicationsTo address the predicament, this paper proposes a greater self‐awareness in framing the initial starting point, using a procedure drawn from Hegel and Marx's dialectics. To “test’ this methodology, the paper examines four streams of progressive accounting research: professional (e.g. Brilovian) analysis, Foucauldian (culturalist) studies, ethnographic studies, and epistemic contributions.Originality/valueEach review offers suggestions for a dialectical reconstruction of the original, including a revised initial starting point (object) for the analysis.

Nanette Monin 2004Management Theory. A Critical and Reflexive Reading In the Management, Organisations and Society Series Edited by Barbara Czarniawska & Martha Feldman RoutledgeLondon & New York

NANETTE MONIN 2004 Management Theory. A Critical and Reflexive Reading In the Management, Organisations and Society Series Edited by Barbara Czarniawska & Martha Feldman Routledge London & New York One way to read Monin's text is as a 'methods' book, but one that is refreshingly out of the ordinary for the management discipline. In it the author describes the eclectic 'scriptive' method of text analysis that she developed for her PhD research project and is able to use in her current work in the Department of Management and Business at Massey University in New Zealand. Based on literary criticism, deconstruction, reader-response and rhetoric theories, the scriptive method involves a tripartite process of reading a text. Firstly, a 'dominant' reading focuses on the author, to provide a summary of (what the reader understands is) their argument(s). Monin chose this Derridean label in an effort to escape a realist mode of analysis-also calling it 'paraphrasis', defined as 'a rewording of the original text' (p.77). secondly, an in-depth 'critical' reading focuses on the text. The backbone of her method, this phase examines three more 'P's that are borrowed from rhetoric theory and practice-'performance', 'perspective' and 'persuasion'. Thirdly, a 'reflexive' reading focuses on the reader, exploring how they have constructed their individual interpretation. This final phase Monin calls 'perpension'-the fifth 1P'-which she defines as 'a process of apprehending, considering and evaluating and weighing the outcomes of my reading to this point' (p. 80). Monin then applies her scriptive method to analyse selected parts of five classic management texts: Frederick Taylor's The Principles of Scientific Management, Mary Follett's Dynamic Administration: The Collected Papers of Mary Parker Follett, Peter Drucker's The Practice of Management, Henry Mintzberg's The Nature of Managerial Work, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter's The Change Masters: Corporate Entrepreneurs at Work. Monin concludes that four of the texts contain a long-held and institutionalized Utopian metanarrative and root metaphor that provides ten 'precepts', or rules of moral conduct for guiding the practice of management and its theories over much of the 20th century. This is a heroic story of progress in the form of a journey that instructs managers to discard old incorrect theories and practices in favour of the map that is offered, which will ensure that the hero discovers the right question and its answer. When he (the hero is strongly gendered as male) reaches this Utopian future place, the manager will enjoy many powerful roles that will enable him to control his employees, with whom to fight others different from them, but who are, nevertheless, resources for meeting the primary financial needs of both himself and his organisation (pp. 189-191). Follett's is the exception-and noticeably so, as her text contradicts nine of the ten precepts (her only similarity is in her criticisms of the past and suggestions for management in the future) (p. 193). Monin proposes that her evidence of Follett's different perspective can explain the discipline's long neglect of her ideas, and that a recent disciplinary interest in Follett's texts promises new narratives and worldviews to guide future theory and practice of management (pp. 196-197). Taking up Monin's invitation to use her scriptive method, I follow up my 'dominant' reading outlined above with a 'critical' reading of her text that identifies a number of ways the author performs her text. Firstly, Monin adopts a role of poet and literary scholar, which she signals from the beginning, when she introduces a poem by Robert Graves and a Shakespearian quotation in blank verse before even exercising her own voice. In her arresting opening paragraph she then constructs herself as a hybrid poet/management theorist: I read poetry and I read management theory. Sometimes I read poetry in search of a good theory and sometimes I read management theory as if it were a poem (p. …

Clusters, roots and hierarchies of metaphors in Scripture and the quest for Christian scholarship

This article explores how the confessional thrust of Scriptural and root metaphors relates to the Christian scholar’s quest and how choices for hermeneutical keys to Scripture relate to metaphorical keys chosen as means of access to reality. With respect to Biblical interpretation it is argued that the text of Scripture itself provides the theologian or reader with leads concerning the kind of metaphorical access that functions as its hermeneutical key. I argue that there are clusters or hierarchies of metaphors, central and root metaphors, that regulate the interpretation of Scriptural texts and that a redemptive historical reading of Scripture as a confessional text guides the meaning of such clusters and hierarchies of metaphors. I argue that root metaphors in Scripture set the certitudinal parameters for the metaphors chosen and utilised in the disciplines. Regarding reality I argue that the recognition of the multidimensionality of reality and the plurivocity of meaning and signification on which we rely in both literal and metaphorical language use and reference assumes the existence of non-linguistic and preconceptual bases that guide the recognition of similarities, differences and analogies in reality. They in turn are pointers to a design plan for reality which one could call a God-given order of creation. Metaphorical meaning appeals to and presupposes such an ordered and categorised world to which language and texts refer and which provides limits and boundaries to the multiplicity of deferrals of meaning that intertextual relationships seem to imply. In disciplines concerned metaphorical models play a hermeneutical role in the understanding and interpretation of reality. In these metaphorical models, control beliefs steer, guide and condition the access of the discipline to reality. For Christian scholars the ultimate presuppositions embedded in control beliefs need to comport with the thrust of Scripture and its root metaphors. Scholars are at work in God’s creation and their metaphorical approximations of the structures of this creation are guided by the contours of created reality. These approximations in turn are influenced and constrained by what they attribute ultimacy to in the process of attempting to understand this reality. Stable God-given order provides the conditions and parameters for the common differentiation of contexts within which the interpretation of God’s Word in creation is to take place.