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Abstract

This study examines a website produced by a group of workers laid off by The Baltimore Sun in April 2009. This study describes the poetics of ‘goodbye narratives’, reflective stories written by ex-employees regarding their organizational experiences. This article uses plot and thematic analysis rooted in narrative and organizational studies to understand community sense making of organizational change. Individually, these writers told stories that expressed attachment to their work and profession, while collectively these narratives dramatically illustrated the impact of organizational decline. Furthermore, these stories provided an opportunity to examine the role of nostalgia within interpretative community discourse. This article theorizes that nostalgia performs both individual and collective sense making, building a bridge between local and durational interpretative modes.

Keywords

Change layoffs narrative analysis nostalgia organizational decline

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The poetics of goodbye: Change and nostalgia in goodbye narratives penned by ex- Baltimore Sun employees

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