Heroes and Helpers, Victims and Villains: A syntagmatic analysis of manager stories

Abstract

This paper builds on the growing body of work using narrative as a means of both conceptualising and researching identity. Drawing on the work of Propp, it presents a method of syntagmatic analysis which attends to the narrative plots underpinning stories, and the narrative roles adopted by the narrator and roles ascribed to others. The paper presents research into manager workplace identities at a UK Social Landlord. It demonstrates how a syntagmatic analysis of manager stories reveals rich insights into the workplace identities of managers, and the identity work they undertake in order to construct and sustain such identities. It further reveals how managers personally position themselves in relation to the range of possible organisational functions of a manager, and in relation to the organisation and other organisational actors. By attending to individual stories, such analysis also draws attention to the plurality of manager experience.