ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the potential consequences of the poetics of authorial effacement inherent in the poetics of clarity. As I will argue, authorial effacement inscribes a specific relationship with the objects of knowledge, which (ideally) reduces authorial presence to a zero degree. Within this expository mode of communication, the findings, results, and conclusions appear independent of the authors. Consequently, an ideal of neutrality is inscribed in the authorial position, which must secure the transparency of the object of knowledge. While this ideal creates an appearance of objectivity, I will argue that it concerns more than merely textual appearances and that it leaves out something important for knowledge production. Contexts, biases, and interests are left outside not only of the texts but also potentially from reflection. Thereby, we risk that specific biases and interests remain privileged in the production of knowledge. By leaving out biases, interests, and contexts, the poetics of authorial effacement turns clarity into a selective clarity, which may be highly prolific for knowledge production. Yet not only does this selective clarity render the background of knowledge obscure, but it risks the progression of knowledge production by excluding potential epistemic resources that may open different fields of exploration and questions to pursue.
