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the idea behind attribution of information to a name probably comes from contract theory/law--there is an attestation in it. i think that is more a quirk, a rhetorical tic, than a guarantee of anything in terms of accuracy, really--but at the same time, it also enables traceability, cross-referencing, etc., so it's functional that the convention be in place, generally speaking. but it is not the case that the absence of a proper name entails that all the above is simply inverted, right? you can still cross-reference, you can still situate information, you can still make judgments about plausiblity without having the name floating about to make all appear hunky dory, it seems to me.
personally, i'd rather have references than author names floating atop articles that do not provide them.
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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