| This dissertation is an inquiry in the process of generativity. The study was inspired by the notion that generative process is vital for the continuous renewal of possibility in our personal, social and organized existence. Generativity is defined in the following two dimensions: an idea, event, or context that triggers a connection with a personal experience, and a visceral response that awakens a sense of wonder and curiosity.; The study engages with the first four volumes of the Harry Potter series as an exemplar of narrative fiction. The Harry Potter story is a highly imaginative fantasy that narrates the magical experiences of children in their relationships with other people and the larger world. Through my engagement with this story, I developed an embodied, dialogic approach to narrative inquiry. I created a storytelling experience that allowed me to study the story as a participant, from the inside out. In a spontaneous conversation with the text, I made rich feeling connections that propelled and sustained a journey of discovery. This journey became a multi-layered hermeneutic process of reading and writing that brought the text alive and made it possible to develop a tangible and practical understanding of generativity. This intimate understanding subsequently enabled the articulation of a number of pathways to the development of knowledge that illuminate and invite generativity in the human condition.; The study reinforces the power of our imaginative mind in inquiry. While exploring the process of looking into the experience of generativity, this dissertation lead to the construction of a poetics of knowing and an understanding of theorizing as an art form. The experience of learning from an art form is itself a promoter of generativity in every realm of inquiry, including studies of organizational life. |
