The following lit review is from one of my conference papers. I used MLA referencing, not APA, but you can see the function of a lit review. It tries to map out what theorists have said about a particular topic and in so doing it opens space for the writer to insert her own contribution to the ongoing research. In this case, the research strand I was attempting to contribute to is one that investigates the role of narrative knowledge, story telling, in professional organizations.
Literature Review
During the past decade, there has been a growing interest in the roles played by narrative in organizations among organizational communication researchers and among technical and professional communication researchers. Among organizational communication scholars, Dennis Mumby’s “The Political Function of Narrative in Organizations” is often cited as a formative text. In that article, Mumby explores the way stories told in organizations either reinforce or subvert exiting hierarchical structures. Among technical communication scholars, Ben and Marthalee Barton’s early article argues that researchers in the field should turn their attention to narrative, partly because narratives are used by scientists and engineers to solve problems and by organizations to reconcile employees perspectives with that of the organization (44-45). In these two seminal articles in their respective fields, the themes of acculturation and social-political control emerge as topics for further research, and further research there has been. For example, in regards to acculturation, Nancy Blyler describes the importance of stories in initiating members into organizations, and Jane Ledwell-Brown and Patrick X. Dias analyze the role stories play in teaching people how to operate in a new culture. On the theme of social-political control, Marsha Witten explores the role of narrative in creating a culture of obedience in a New York consulting firm. Similarly, Mark R. Zachry describes the uses of narratives in managerial rhetoric of the Total Quality Control movement. “In addition to establishing control,” he says, “the stories that circulate in the workplace form identities for individuals by introducing subject roles that can be occupied by organizational participants” (114).
Works Cited
Blyler, Nancy R. “Pedagogy and Social Action: A Role for Narrative in Professional Communication.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication 9 (1995): 289-320.
Brown, John Seely and Paul Duguid. "Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice: Toward a unified View of Working, Learning, and Innovation." Organizational Science 2.1 (February 1991): 40-57.
Coe, Marlana. Human Factors for Technical Communicators. New York: Wiley, 1996.
Flower, Linda, John R. Hayes, and Heidi Swarts. “Revising Functional Documents: The Scenario Principle.” New Essays in Technical and Scientific Communication: Research, Theory, Practice. Ed. Paul V. Anderson, R. John Brockmann, and Carolyn R. Miller. Farmingdale, NY: Baywood Publishing Company, Inc. 1983. 41-58.
Jordon, Brigitte. "Cosmopolitical Obstetrics: Some Insights from the Training of Traditional Midwives." Social Science and Medicine (28.9) 1989: 925-944.
Lay, Mary M. “Midwives Birth Stories: Narratives that Expand the Boundaries of Professional Discourse.” Narrative and Professional Communication. Ed. Jane M. Perkins and Nancy Blyler. Stamford, Connecticut: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1999. 137-150.
Ledwell-Brown, Jane, and Patrick X. Dias. “The Way We Do Things Here: The Significance of Narratives in Research Interviews.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication 8 (1994): 165-185.
Mumby, Dennis K. “The Political Function of Narrative in Organizations.”
Communication Monographs 54 (1987): 113-127.
Orr, Julian E. Talking About Machines: An Ethnography of a Modern Job. Ithaca:
Cornell UP, 1996.
Witten, Marsha. “Narrative and the Culture of Obedience at the Workplace.” Narrative and Social Control: Critical Perspectives. Newbury park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1993. 97-118.
Zachry, Mark R. “Management Discourse and Popular Narratives: The Myriad Plots of Total Quality Management.” Narrative and Professional Communication. Ed. Jane M. Perkins and Nancy Blyler. Stamford, Connecticut: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1999. 107-120.