The Illusion of Objectivity: How Language Constructs Authority

This chapter investigates the grammatical and pragmatic strategies by which institutional discourse creates an illusion of objectivity to legitimize authority. It explores how agentless passives, impersonal constructions, and modal expressions (e.g., "it must be done") obscure authorship and intention, projecting necessity and neutrality. Far from being ideologically neutral, such linguistic forms restrict interpretive possibilities and reinforce epistemic closure. Drawing on systemic functional linguistics and pragmatic theory, the analysis is supported by examples from legal, academic, and religious discourse. The chapter contributes to a broader understanding of how language functions as a vehicle for institutional power and discursive control. Keywords (EN): Institutional discourse, grammatical agency, objectivity, epistemic closure, authority, systemic functional linguistics, deontic modality, legal language DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15395917 This work is also published with DOI reference in Figshare: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.29218724 and SRRN http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5258415