ABSTRACT
In the poetics of clarity, a clear-cut distinction between form and content is taken for granted. This chapter thematises this distinction through a discussion that distils the inherent presuppositions across disciplinary borders where form is seen as solely concerning the manner of presentation. Consequently, a hierarchical boundary is drawn between form, which must function in the background serving as a mere messenger, and the substantial content. However, a tension lurks beneath this apparently clear-cut distinction: the unification of form and content is hidden beneath the rigid separation. The subordination of writing as a secondary medium that should work silently in the background relies on a specific form (zero style) that must be suitable for the content to remain in the background. Indeed, the privileging of the content rests on a demarcation of form and content, which, nonetheless, ties them together, because the form must blend in naturally with the content in order to remain unnoticed. Thus, in the poetics of clarity, the form/content separation is simultaneously a unification, because of the necessary fit between form and content. This paradox unsettles the dividing line between form and content within academic writing.
