Narrating the narrative turn in narrative accounting research: Scholarly knowledge development or flat science?

Purpose – This paper analyses the nature and extent of convergence within the literature of the narrative turn in narrative accounting research.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper offers an actor-network-theoretic perspective drawing on Latour’s theory of citation and Shwed and Bearman’s development of that theory to analyse patterns of convergence.

Findings – The paper finds that, across the exemplars of narrative turn research examined, there is only a limited level of epistemic engagement, so that exemplars achieve their status without undergoing trials of strength.

Research limitations/implications – The paper argues that the resources of the relevant academic community are spread so thinly that each seam – each research question, each methodology or method, each research context – is mined by no more than a small handful of researchers unable to generate a meaningful volume of contestation. Steps are suggested to better focus research activity.

Originality/value – The use of Latour’s theory of citation to analyse patterns of convergence in accounting research is innovative. The paper proposes a substantial change in the community’s approach to narrative turn research on accounting narratives.