6533b862fe1ef96bd12c6311
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Meaningfulness and Meaninglessness of Work in Charles Bukowski
Giovanni Di Stefanosubject
Postmodernitypostmodernitymedia_common.quotation_subject05 social sciencesIdentity (social science)050109 social psychologyEpistemologymeaning of workPhilosophyContent analysisIdentity0502 economics and businessPersonal identity0501 psychology and cognitive sciencesNarrativeMeaning (existential)Sociology050203 business & managementPeriod (music)Theme (narrative)media_commondescription
In psychological and managerial literature, the meaning of work boasts a long tradition; in this topic, scholars and researchers have explored sources of meaning and meaningfulness of the working activity in workers' motivations, values, and beliefs. Less attention, however, is given to the function work has in terms of signifier of each individual's personal identity. This article aims at deeply examining the relationship between identity construction and meaning of work, focusing on this theme through the exploration of Charles Bukowski's narrative world. My attention was particularly focused on representations and emotional connotations characterizing the relationship between identity and work, deduced by the content analysis of his literary production. Bukowski's difficult working experience sustainability intersects with the instability scenario of the second postwar period in the United States, recursively affecting the development of a self-reflexive thought around which an idea of oneself could be modeled. In this sense, the author's experience is paradigmatic for the contemporary condition, in so far as today's work experience, deprived of a shared meaning system, negatively influences the meaning attribution process involving one's own life experiences.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-07-04 |