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Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry

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Year 2017 
Volume 15 
Issue 1-2

The Meaning of Work and the Absence of Workers in Les Mandarins: Irony at Work through the ‘Essential Accessory’

Robin Clair
Purdue University

Lauren Hearit
Purdue University

2017 15 (1-2) Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry

Article contents

Abstract

Building on past studies that assert that novels provide pedagogical promise as well as organizational insight for students and managers, we take up Simone de Beauvoir’s classic novel Les Mandarins which questions the meaning and value of literature to act as a form of resistance and activism, especially on behalf of the working class. We point out that ‘the workers’ are both present and absent in the novel, as they are the central point of discussion and yet no working class characters are developed within the pages of the novel. We address this as a rhetorical/literary device - accessoire-indispensable-mais-camouflé or more succinctly, the essential accessory, which future studies might invoke in assessing organizational practices.

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APA style

Clair, Robin Patric & Hearit, Lauren Berkshire (2017). The Meaning of Work and the Absence of Workers in Les Mandarins: Irony at Work through the ‘Essential Accessory’. (2017). The Meaning of Work and the Absence of Workers in Les Mandarins: Irony at Work through the ‘Essential Accessory’. Tamara: Journal For Critical Organization Inquiry, 15(1-2), 203-215. (Original work published 2017)

MLA style

Clair, Robin Patric and Hearit, Lauren Berkshire. “The Meaning Of Work And The Absence Of Workers In Les Mandarins: Irony At Work Through The ‘Essential Accessory’”. 2017. Tamara: Journal For Critical Organization Inquiry, vol. 15, no. 1-2, 2017, pp. 203-215.

Chicago style

Clair, Robin Patric and Hearit, Lauren Berkshire. “The Meaning Of Work And The Absence Of Workers In Les Mandarins: Irony At Work Through The ‘Essential Accessory’”. Tamara: Journal For Critical Organization Inquiry, Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry, 15, no. 1-2 (2017): 203-215.

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