Abstract

Introduction. What does authenticity mean in an era of disruptive technological change, decaying public trust, and cultural contestation? In response, this philosophical investigation reframes authenticity through the lenses of performativity and contextuality. Method. Conceptual analysis is undertaken to comparatively examine multidisciplinary definitions, implicit ontological assumptions, and emergent theoretical intersections between authenticity, performativity, and contextuality. Analysis. Investigating authenticity through the lenses of performativity and contextuality positions the designation of authentic as an act undertaken by empowered agents to perceive, evince, or assess the cultural authority of knowledge conveyed through documents (i.e., records, events, experiences) within a co-constructed context. Results. The synthesised documentalist view of authenticity, as a context-mediated performance, reframes the status of authentic as an intersubjective assessment of identity-relevance around and about documents, rather than as an innate or static informational quality within documents. Hence, two emergent forms of authenticity are proposed to account for the social experience and internal affect of information, respectively: Exo-Authenticity (i.e. information being authentic), and Emo-Authenticity (i.e. information feeling authentic). Conclusion. Guiding questions about authenticity are posed to suggest future critical research directions within library and information science (LIS), emphasising epistemic vigilance toward when, where, why, and for whom concerns around authenticity matter.