The Mechanisms of Cohesion and Coherence in the Poem “Kettle Diaries” by Muhammad Afifi Matar

Abstract

This study seeks to uncover the mechanisms of cohesion and coherence in the poem “Kettle Diaries” based on the criteria of Text Linguistics developed by Halliday and Ruqaiya Hasan, as well as De Beaugrande and Dressler, using an analytical approach. Combining these frameworks enhances the exploration of the textual evidence and meanings embedded in the poem, while also drawing on some of the foundational principles of the early deconstructive approach. The study is divided into two sections. The first is theoretical, addressing the concept of text linguistics, its emergence and significance, defining its standards, and introducing the poet and the poem’s context. The second is practical, revealing the mechanisms of cohesion employed by Afifi Matar at the syntactic level, and coherence at the lexical level, as well as their impact on the reader. The importance of the study lies in the novelty of its subject, as the poem has not previously been examined or interpreted through any methodological framework. Despite some critics’ descriptions of the poet’s work as linguistically difficult or obscure, the analysis reveals a frequent use of attached pronouns for economy and anaphoric reference to preceding elements, as well as the repetition of particles,