Foucault and the "Author" as "Creator-God"

I am curious about Foucault’s discussion/deconstruction of the construction of the author as “a transcendental anonymity” (Theory and Criticism 1479). It seems like he both affirms and deconstructs the idea of the author as creator-God at the same time. He affirms by conceding that “The disappearance of the author […] is held in check by the transcendental” (1479), and then undercuts the power of the transcendental by drawing the line that separates modern twentieth-century ideology with nineteenth-century “historical and transcendental tradition” (1479). He obviously characterizes himself as among the self-liberated, thus divorcing himself from the power of the transcendental.

In light of this, I am curious how such a position relates to Whitman in particular since it could be argued that he can be read as positing himself as author/creator-God, while at the same time undercutting the notion of God on a theological level (I am thinking specifically of Leaves of Grass). Additionally, Foucault himself could be seen as positing himself as author/creator-God because of the theories he posits in What Is an Author? concerning his conception of the “author-function.”

It seems like all of these instances reject the transcendental entity of a theological God while relating that subject position to the author as creator of a text, at the same time pronouncing themselves in creator-God roles as authors of their own texts (i.e. Whitman and Foucault). It almost seems like they topple one tyrannical figure, while assuming the position they just deposed. It is almost arguable that the entire concept of “the death of the author” is related to the twentieth-century declaration of the death of God. If God, the transcendental does not exist, then all relatable subject position, like the author, must also disappear. Just a thought.