Accounting for the “transcendent self”: spirituality, narcissism, testimony and gift
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
ISSN: 0951-3574
Article publication date: 24 August 2021
Issue publication date: 3 February 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The paper explores the process of construction of the “accountable self”, particularly as this process engages with the spirituality of the self. This study examines the “space of accountability” within which the accountable self constructs itself as such and investigates how different accounts of the self are drawn upon in the making of this space, both defining and transcending it.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper relies upon archival material concerning accounting and accountability practices about the project for building the altar of St. Ignatius in the Church of Gesù, Rome, Italy (1691–1706). This study examines calculative and narrative accounts about the project from the perspective of the superintendent, who was the sole person accountable for the building works.
Findings
Whereas calculative accounts enabled the self to account for actions within the specific space of accountability of the project, narrative accounts opened up this space, providing for a testimony of actions and a gift of accountability towards future indefinite others. This process was prompted by the spirituality of the self and the narcissistic gratification of fulfilling this spirituality.
Originality/value
The paper adds to the literature on the accountable self and to theological perspectives into accountability. This study suggests exploring how different accounts of the self engage with each other through testimony, gift, narcissism and spirituality in the construction of the accountable self, providing for a “transcendent” space of accountability. This research also adds to studies on narrative accounts by showing that they are drawn upon alongside calculative accounts in the construction of the transcendent, accountable self.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the constructive suggestions received following the presentation of earlier versions of the paper at the Doctoral Colloquium of the European Accounting Association, Larnaca, May 2019; the ENROAC-MCA Doctoral Colloquium, London, June 2019 and the Alternative Accounts Europe Conference, Leicester, January 2020. The authors would like to thank the members of CHRONOS Research Centre at Royal Holloway University of London, UK, for the insightful comments received on the research paper. The authors’ sincere thanks also go to Mauro Brunello, archivist of the Archivum Romanum Societatis lesu, for the assistance provided in searching the Jesuits' archive in Rome and to Paolo Quattrone, Fabrizio Granà and the two anonymous referees for the invaluable insights on the paper.
Citation
Achilli, G., Busco, C. and Giovannoni, E. (2022), "Accounting for the “transcendent self”: spirituality, narcissism, testimony and gift", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 35 No. 2, pp. 492-517. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-12-2019-4360
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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