"At the Heart of Storytelling"
"For Benjamin, information and narrative are irreconcilable; information goes hand-in-hand with a desire for factuality and verifiability, driving out the spirit of narrative, with its claim to truth based in lifeworld experience."
—Philipp Schönthaler
Philipp Schönthaler
Philipp Schönthaler is the author of the short story collection Nach oben ist das Leben offen ("Above, Life Is Open"), which won the prestigious Clemens Brentano Prize in 2012. Since then, Schönthaler has published two more short story collections, a novel, and two books of cultural history, including the one from which "At the Heart of Storytelling" is taken (its English title is Portrait of the Manager as a Young Author). The German edition won the Stuttgart Business Club Prize in 2016.
Introduction
Richard Orwig is the Associate Professor of Management and the Interim Department Head of Management at Susquehanna University. He has been published in many research journals including Information Systems Educators Journal and Journal of the American Society for Information Science and also served four years in the Navy. He worked as a software engineer for thirteen years; and he has taught at the University of Arizona, Washington State University for seven years, and here at Susquehanna University for fifteen years.
Discussion Questions
1. What is the difference between management and narrative?
2. What are some benefits for storytelling in the business industry?
Additional Resources
- "Your Microwave" by Philipp SchönthalerThis short story was translated into English by Amanda DeMarco. Andreas Rötzer introduces Schonthaler thus: "For Philipp Schönthaler, born in Stuttgart in 1976, literary writing is a means of coming to grips with the world. In his hands, it becomes a research instrument that he has mastered like a virtuoso – both the techniques of literary modernism (which he reinvents) and straightforward narrative. His texts at once illuminate the world and make it transparent. At the same time, he always remains full of humour, both in the scenes he describes and in the tools he chooses. 'Your Microwave' makes this drastically clear, but it is only one example of the many forms his expression takes. Schönthaler is an author who, with great tenacity, creates a highly diverse cosmos all his own."
Activities
1. Have students research successful companies (the ones listed in the text or others that students can think of) and the ways that they have used narrative and management.
2. Have students make a business pitch for a company or product (real or made up) that they are trying to promote. They should consider what narrative lens they are using to promote their pitch to the audience.
