The accounting meta-metaphor of the Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot
Purpose: Using the theory of sensibility and McClelland et 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 McClelland et al.’s (2013) five-st...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Emerald
2020
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82064 |
| _version_ | 1848764469023342592 |
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| author | Brown, Alistair |
| author_facet | Brown, Alistair |
| author_sort | Brown, Alistair |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Purpose:
Using the theory of sensibility and McClelland et 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 McClelland et 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 McClelland et al.’s (2013) metaphorical analysis of accounting research. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:19:51Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-82064 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:19:51Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Emerald |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-820642021-03-05T07:01:10Z The accounting meta-metaphor of the Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot Brown, Alistair Purpose: Using the theory of sensibility and McClelland et 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 McClelland et 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 McClelland et al.’s (2013) metaphorical analysis of accounting research. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82064 10.1108/QRAM-10-2019-0113 Emerald restricted |
| spellingShingle | Brown, Alistair The accounting meta-metaphor of the Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot |
| title | The accounting meta-metaphor of the Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot |
| title_full | The accounting meta-metaphor of the Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot |
| title_fullStr | The accounting meta-metaphor of the Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot |
| title_full_unstemmed | The accounting meta-metaphor of the Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot |
| title_short | The accounting meta-metaphor of the Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot |
| title_sort | accounting meta-metaphor of the hollow men by t. s. eliot |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82064 |