ABSTRACT
The discourse of authenticity has historically distinguished between subjects and objects, encapsulating elements of authorship, authority, credibility, and accreditation. As a discourse of self-referentiality, authenticity implies internal coherence and/or fidelity to some other original thing or being. Concerned with uncovering fundamental truths, essences, and origins, authenticity is a key concept in disciplines ranging from philosophy, anthropology, and music to psychology and law. Yet, it is in the practice and theorization of reenactment that authenticity holds the greatest sway. The history of the discourse can thus be seen as a contest between authenticity as a hermetic attribute of a thing or person, and authenticity as a negotiable attribute, reliant on an external imprimatur. The authenticity of objects concerns the relationship between the original and copy and is assessed and arbitrated by experts in the field, who inquire into a thing’s status as genuine, true, trustworthy, or reliably documented.
