Sentence:  Here the existential process (“there is”) functions as a <WSD>bald</WSD> assertion of fact, with no hedging or concessions to the observer's subjectivity, while the nominalization (“a significant role-reversal”) activates a pre-existing category from the discourse of Literary Criticism, into which the present "specimen" will be slotted. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  (statement or account) Unembellished.