"It's all in the plot": Narrative explorations of work-related emotions

This contribution examines how researchers may study work-related emotions in the field by listening carefully and engaging emotionally with stories and narratives that they encounter. The chapter starts with a recognition that emotion (pathos) is a crucial element of story (mythos), something noted a long time ago by Aristotle. Emotions may seem to surface and subside irregularly in the course of a story, a drama, or a conversation, but they have an inner logic that ties them to various plot-lines, such as tragic, comic, or epic. In particular, we examine how researchers can recreate the emotions of their respondents, as well as their own emotions in the field, by recollecting and re-engaging with significant stories as well as metaphors that punctuate their research material.