Talk:Antenarrative

Suggestions for Improvement

This article is a heap of postmodern gobbledeguck. Can someone who understands antenarrative please rewrite it to give clear definitions and reduce jargon? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Paulralph (talk • contribs) 20:32, 5 October 2016 (UTC)

I did. It was deleted for being a 'heap' before, and I fixed it. What part of this critical linguistic anthropological theory do you do you not understand? Or do you mean that the technical terms are "gobbledeguck"? 24.20.171.14 (talk) 09:01, 7 March 2017 (UTC)

I believe this will help.CredenceHarbor (talk) 13:12, 10 September 2021 (UTC)

Notability

We've gone over the notability of this fairly recently and I've presented compelling evidence that Antenarrative is, in fact, notable. Further the quotes now sample very small portions of the overall works they cite. Before this page was deleted there was a LOT of work i'd put into citing, and the "copy write" holder was more than happy to have this information here. If you have an objection to this work then let me know and I'll do my best to solve any problems you may have with the antenarrative page.

Saylors (talk) 08:42, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

You say that your previously put a lot of work into citing. As you are a new editor I assume that means you have previously edited under a different name. Would you please tell us what ID you used? ----Snowded ^TALK 09:33, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

Sure: I was antenarrative (where I added antenarrative) and rsaylors (where I did a major revision of appreciative inquiry); In both cases I couldn't figure out my passwords and telling wikipedia to send them to me didn't work*. So I re-registered with the same email that I Imagine I'd used before and it let me (I would have thought it'd give me a registration error?); so here I is :-) Saylors (talk) 09:44, 2 November 2012 (UTC) *I first created rsaylors, then I couldn't figure out my password, so I created antenarrative, then once more I couldn't figure out my password so I created another account; at no point did I have access to multiple counts at once... I'm guessing I'll forget this password too some day.

I'm the admin who deleted this article on copyright grounds most recently, and I just now tagged it for copyright concerns again. While the quotes may be small parts of the overall works they cite, they are nonetheless fairly lengthy in the context of this article and in an absolute sense. Our guideline concerning non-free content says that "Brief quotations of copyrighted text may be used to illustrate a point, establish context, or attribute a point of view or idea." There seems to be little to no reason that three entire paragraphs need to be quoted in this article as opposed to simply using them as sources and rewriting it into your own language.

Now if the copyright holders are indeed willing to have their information posted here as anything except for a brief quote, then they would need to release it under a free license, following the instructions laid out at Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials. VernoWhitney (talk) 17:08, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback and direction. I've amended the section on spiral antenarrative so that you can let me know if the quote was brief enough. The standards in for-profit books/journals and non-profit journals allow for much larger quotes, without copy-write, than it seems are acceptable by wikipedia standards. Saylors (talk) 22:22, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

You're absolutely correct--Wikipedia's standards are explicitly and purposefully stricter than those required elsewhere. It's a sometimes annoying side-effect of trying to make the encyclopedia as free (in all senses) as possible. I think your rewrite of the spiral section looks great, and the quote now does seem to be illustrating a point. Thanks! VernoWhitney (talk) 23:44, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

I hope that I have removed the copy-pasta to the point that this wikipedia will be free both as in beer and as in speech.Saylors (talk) 02:11, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

Proposed revision to address AfD notability concerns

I am proposing the following revised article text and am posting it here on the Talk page rather than editing the article directly, consistent with Wikipedia's conflict of interest guidelines (I am associated with the subject of the article). I invite uninvolved editors to review and implement any or all of this draft.

Summary of changes

The current article has been nominated for deletion three times, with editors raising concerns about notability and over-reliance on sources by the subject. This revision addresses those concerns by:

1. Adding independent secondary sources from peer-reviewed journals including Organization Science, Academy of Management Annals, Human Relations, Communication Monographs, Technical Communication Quarterly, Globalizations, Journal of Business Research, Qualitative Research, Neohelicon, and others — authored by scholars independent of Boje.
2. Demonstrating cross-disciplinary adoption across organizational studies, technical communication, communication studies, women's studies, entrepreneurship, labor studies, financial communication, Chinese literary studies, AI research, and economic degrowth.
3. Removing extended self-quotation from the article's subject and replacing it with encyclopedic prose sourced to independent scholarship.
4. Adding clear Wikipedia-standard sections (Etymology, Development, Academic reception, Relation to other concepts).

Proposed article text

Antenarrative is a concept in organizational and narrative theory referring to the pre-narrative, fragmented, and polyphonic stories that precede and shape retrospective narrative accounts. The term was coined by organizational theorist David Boje in 2001 and has since been applied in organizational studies, technical communication, communication studies, labor studies, entrepreneurship research, women's studies, financial communication, and Chinese literary criticism, among other fields.

Etymology

The prefix ante carries a deliberate double meaning: "before" (as in that which exists prior to narrative) and "bet" (as in a poker ante placed on an uncertain outcome). This dual meaning distinguishes antenarrative from related concepts in narrative theory. Where conventional narrative is retrospective — a coherent story with a beginning, middle, and end as Aristotle defined in the Poetics — antenarrative is prospective and non-linear, capturing the ambiguous story fragments that circulate in organizations before they congeal into official accounts.Boje, David M. (2001). Narrative Methods for Organizational and Communication Research. London: Sage.

Development

Boje introduced the term in Narrative Methods for Organizational and Communication Research (Sage, 2001), positioning it as a challenge to the retrospective emphasis in Karl Weick's sensemaking theory.Boje, David M. (2001). Narrative Methods for Organizational and Communication Research. London: Sage. Where Weick's sensemaking framework emphasized making coherent sense of events after the fact, antenarrative attends to the forward-looking, pre-reflective story fragments that orient actors toward possible futures before those futures are resolved.

In the 2011 edited volume Storytelling and the Future of Organizations (Routledge), Boje elaborated four types of antenarrative: linear, cyclical, spiral, and rhizomatic.Boje, David M., ed. (2011). Storytelling and the Future of Organizations: An Antenarrative Handbook. Routledge. Later work expanded the framework to describe five dimensions — Before, Beneath, Between, Bet, and Becoming — each corresponding to a different way stories take shape prior to narrative closure.

Spiral antenarrative draws on the dialogic relationship between deviation-amplification and deviation-counteraction in dynamically changing systems, engaging with heteroglossia as developed by Mikhail Bakhtin. Rhizomatic antenarrative draws on Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's rhizome concept and assemblage theory, describing narrative formation that is combinatorial rather than causal.

Academic reception and cross-disciplinary adoption

The concept has been taken up by scholars across multiple disciplines, establishing a substantial body of independent secondary literature.

Organizational studies and strategy. Eero Vaara and Janne Tienari applied antenarrative analysis to cross-border corporate mergers in Organization Science, examining how nationally oriented ante-narratives function in legitimation and resistance.Vaara, Eero; Tienari, Janne (2011). "On the narrative construction of multinational corporations: An antenarrative analysis of legitimation and resistance in a cross-border merger". Organization Science. 22 (2): 370–390. doi:10.1287/orsc.1100.0556. In a major review article in the Academy of Management Annals, Vaara, Sonenshein, and Boje identified antenarratives as a key direction for future research on narrative in organizations.Vaara, Eero; Sonenshein, Scott; Boje, David (2016). "Narratives as sources of stability and change in organizations: Approaches and directions for future research". Academy of Management Annals. 10 (1): 495–560. doi:10.5465/19416520.2016.1120963. Auvinen et al. applied the concept to ongoing strategic change, using a "story index" to capture organizational futures in a Palgrave Macmillan volume on managing uncertainty (2018).Auvinen, T.; Sajasalo, P.; Sintonen, T.; Takala, T.; Järvenpää, M. (2018). "Antenarratives in Ongoing Strategic Change: Using the Story Index to Capture Daunting and Optimistic Futures". How Organizations Manage the Future. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 133–151.

Crisis communication and corporate responsibility. Frandsen, Svane, and Humle applied antenarrative to corporate scandal sensemaking in Human Relations (2024), examining how organizational members assign responsibility during a crisis.Frandsen, S.; Svane, M.; Humle, D. M. (2024). "Who is responsible—and for what? An antenarrative perspective on organizational members' crisis sensemaking of responsibility during a corporate scandal". Human Relations. 77 (11): 1565–1595. doi:10.1177/00187267231164041.

Sensemaking theory. Karl Weick, in a 2012 commentary in Human Relations, linked the bet-structure of antenarrative to the presumptive logic underlying sensemaking, connecting it to actors' orientation toward possible futures.Weick, Karl E. (2012). "Organized sensemaking: A commentary on processes of interpretive work". Human Relations. 65 (1): 141–153. doi:10.1177/0018726711424235.

Technical communication. Jones, Moore, and Walton used antenarrative to historicize power relations in the field of technical communication in Technical Communication Quarterly (2016).Jones, Natasha N.; Moore, Kristen R.; Walton, Rebecca (2016). "Disrupting the past to disrupt the future: An antenarrative of technical communication". Technical Communication Quarterly. 25 (4): 211–229. doi:10.1080/10572252.2016.1228800. Dorpenyo (2022) applied antenarrative to questions of social justice and local knowledge in the Journal of Technical Writing and Communication.Dorpenyo, Isidore Kafui (2022). "Local knowledge as illiterate rhetoric: An antenarrative approach to enacting socially just technical communication". Journal of Technical Writing and Communication. 52 (3): 291–315. doi:10.1177/00472816211022858. Alexander and Edenfield (2024) used the framework to document the erasure of a community displaced by the Savannah River Plant, in Technical Communication.Alexander, J. J.; Edenfield, A. C. (2024). "Erased by Design: An Antenarrative of Ellenton and the Savannah River Plant". Technical Communication. 71 (1): 7–19. Petersen and Moeller (2016) applied antenarrative to uncover power in mid-20th century IBM policies on marriage and maternity leave in the Journal of Technical Writing and Communication.Petersen, Emily J.; Moeller, Ryan M. (2016). "Using antenarrative to uncover systems of power in mid-20th century policies on marriage and maternity at IBM". Journal of Technical Writing and Communication. 46 (3): 362–386. doi:10.1177/0047281616639476.

Communication studies. Barge (2004) examined antenarratives in managerial practice in Communication Studies.Barge, J. Kevin (2004). "Antenarrative and managerial practice". Communication Studies. 55 (1): 106–127. doi:10.1080/10510970409388609. Betts, Hintz, and Buzzanell (2022) extended the communication theory of resilience through an antenarrative lens in Communication Monographs.Betts, T.; Hintz, E. A.; Buzzanell, P. M. (2022). "Emplotting anticipatory resilience: An antenarrative extension of the communication theory of resilience". Communication Monographs. 89 (2): 211–234. doi:10.1080/03637751.2021.1952853.

Labor and social movements. Connor and Phelan (2015) applied antenarrative to the study of transnational labour rights activism in Globalizations, examining how the complexity and ambiguity of global social movement interaction with corporations can be understood through antenarrative sensemaking.Connor, T.; Phelan, L. (2015). "Antenarrative and transnational labour rights activism: Making sense of complexity and ambiguity in the interaction between global social movements and global corporations". Globalizations. 12 (2): 149–163. doi:10.1080/14747731.2014.951609.

Women's studies and advertising. Grow (2009) analyzed gender and branding through an antenarrative framework in Women's Studies in Communication, examining resistance in early Nike women's advertising.Grow, J. M. (2009). "The gender of branding: Antenarrative resistance in early Nike women's advertising". Women's Studies in Communication. 31 (3): 310–343. doi:10.1080/07491409.2008.10162545. Van Hilten and Ruel (2024) used antenarrative to explore the experiences of older women entering academic careers in Gender, Work & Organization.Van Hilten, A.; Ruel, S. (2024). "The Chihuahua and the space princess writing in the margins: Antenarratives of two (older) women early career academics". Gender, Work & Organization. 31 (5): 2066–2094. doi:10.1111/gwao.13109.

Entrepreneurship. Phillips, Moore, and Rutherford (2025) examined legitimating language and emotional tone in antenarratives from a cultural entrepreneurship perspective in the Journal of Business Research.Phillips, D.; Moore, C. B.; Rutherford, M. W. (2025). "Legitimating language and emotional tone in antenarratives: A cultural entrepreneurship perspective". Journal of Business Research. 186: 114988. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114988.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link) Verduyn and Jansen (2005) applied antenarrative research methods in entrepreneurship education in the International Journal of Entrepreneurship Education.Verduyn, K.; Jansen, P. (2005). "Entrepreneurial myths: using biographies and (ante)narrative research methods in entrepreneurship education". International Journal of Entrepreneurship Education. 3 (3): 229–244.

Information systems and AI. Poudel (2019) used antenarrative to identify how actors make sense of AI projects in a large financial organization in the Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies.Poudel, D. (2019). "Making Sense or Betting on the Future?: Identifying Antenarratives of AI projects in a Large Financial Organization". Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies. 24 (2): 20–33. Dalcher and Drevin (2004) applied ante-narrative methods to learning from information systems failures in the South African Computer Journal.Dalcher, D.; Drevin, L. (2004). "Learning from information systems failures by using narrative and ante-narrative methods". South African Computer Journal. 33: 88–97.

Financial communication. Blum and Gumb (2016) applied antenarrative to corporate financial communication in the context of the Areva/UraMin operation in the French accounting journal Comptabilité-Contrôle-Audit.Blum, V.; Gumb, B. (2016). "Antenarrative and financial communication: lessons from the Areva/UraMin operation". Comptabilité-Contrôle-Audit. 22 (2): 77–107.

Chinese literary studies. The concept has been applied to non-Western literary traditions: Fu (2018) examined ante-narrative in ancient Chinese bronze ware texts and the Chinese narrative tradition in Neohelicon,Fu, X. (2018). "The ante-narrative on bronze wares and the Chinese narrative tradition". Neohelicon. 45: 191–212. doi:10.1007/s11059-017-0413-2. and Wan (2014) investigated antenarrative in ancient Chinese novels in Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art.Wan, R. (2014). "An Investigation on the Antenarrative in Ancient Chinese Novels". Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art. 34 (2): 66–75.

Economic degrowth and knowledge. Lueg and Rennstam (2023) applied the antenarrative concept to the movement of knowledge across social fields in the context of economic degrowth thinking, in a Routledge volume on knowledge communication.Lueg, K.; Rennstam, J. (2023). "How knowledge moves across social fields: A conceptual illustration of the antenarrative field of economic degrowth thinking". Perspectives on Knowledge Communication. Routledge. pp. 215–231.

Organization and culture. Sliwa and Cairns (2007) explored narratives and antenarratives of graffiti artists in Culture and Organization.Sliwa, M.; Cairns, G. (2007). "Exploring narratives and antenarratives of graffiti artists: beyond dichotomies of commitment and detachment". Culture and Organization. 13 (1): 73–82. doi:10.1080/14759550601167058. Sandham and Fuller (2020) assessed the value of antenarrative in analyzing the Damore Memo in organizational communication in Continuum.Sandham, S.; Fuller, G. (2020). "The 'Damore Memo': what is the value of antenarrative in organizational communication?". Continuum. 34 (3): 431–447. doi:10.1080/10304312.2020.1745292.

Narrative research methodology. Wolgemuth (2014) engaged antenarrative in analyzing for critical resistance in narrative research in Qualitative Research.Wolgemuth, J. R. (2014). "Analyzing for critical resistance in narrative research". Qualitative Research. 14 (5): 586–602. doi:10.1177/1468794113494324.

Relation to other concepts

Antenarrative is situated within a broader storytelling framework that Boje distinguishes from both narrative and living story. Where narrative is the retrospective, institutionally endorsed account with beginning, middle, and end, and living story is the immediate, embodied experience of events, antenarrative is the pre-narrative process connecting them — the bets and fragments that may or may not crystallize into retrospective sense. This tripartite framework has been compared with Weick's sensemaking theory and with Deleuze and Guattari's rhizome concept.

The SAGE Dictionary of Qualitative Management Research includes antenarrative as a defined entry, describing it as the "pre-narrative" state of prospective sensemaking."Antenarrative". The SAGE Dictionary of Qualitative Management Research. SAGE. 2008.

See also

• Narrative inquiry
• Sensemaking
• Organizational storytelling
• Polyphony (literature)
• Rhizome (philosophy)
• Karl Weick

Selected bibliography

• Boje, D. M. (2001). Narrative Methods for Organizational and Communication Research. London: Sage.
• Boje, D. M. (Ed.). (2011). Storytelling and the Future of Organizations: An Antenarrative Handbook. Routledge.
• Vaara, E., & Tienari, J. (2011). On the narrative construction of multinational corporations: An antenarrative analysis of legitimation and resistance in a cross-border merger. Organization Science, 22(2), 370–390.
• Vaara, E., Sonenshein, S., & Boje, D. (2016). Narratives as sources of stability and change in organizations. Academy of Management Annals, 10(1), 495–560.
• Weick, K. E. (2012). Organized sensemaking: A commentary on processes of interpretive work. Human Relations, 65(1), 141–153.

COI disclosure

I am David Boje, the originator of the antenarrative concept. Per WP:COI, I am not editing the article directly. I request that uninvolved editors evaluate this draft and implement appropriate revisions. I am happy to provide additional sources or clarification on the Talk page. ~2026-40251-92 (talk) 11:47, 20 July 2026 (UTC)