The accounting meta-metaphor of the Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot

Purpose - Using the theory of sensibility and McClellandet al.’s (2013) metaphorical analysis, this study aims to analyse the accounting metaphors and meta-metaphor of The Hollow Men, a poem written by T. S. Eliot. Design/methodology/approach - The analysis uses McClellandet al.’s (2013) five-step procedure to ascertain the poem’s metaphor use. Findings - The Hollow Men depicts accountants as ritualistic and accounting voices as quiet and meaningless while its meta-metaphor conveys accounting as rites and shadows. Research limitations/implications - Although The Hollow Men’s use of Form 4 metaphors, where neither figurative nor literal source term is named, places an onus on the reader to infer meaning from accounting metaphor use, the analysis provides readers with a valuable structure for evincing accounting metaphors that present pervasive accounting issues facing the modern world. Practical implications - Accountants, according to The Hollow Men, are hollow, devotees to plunderers and property and rain dancers. The Hollow Men situates the quest for accounting as a ritual for order and the preservation of the status quo. Social implications - The Hollow Men’s mages of accounting immersion in rites and shadows accord with the conceptual metaphors of accounting as magic and accounting as history. Originality/value - The originality of this study rests in its introduction to McClellandet al.’s (2013) metaphorical analysis of accounting research.