Cohesive Devices and Ideological Constructs in J.P. Clark’s Remains of a Tide: A Discourse Analysis

This paper explores the role of cohesion in conveying ideas through a discourse analysis of J.P. Clark’s 2017 anthology Remains of a Tide. Despite extensive research on poetic anthologies, particularly those of J.P. Clark, which have employed various linguistic approaches, a significant gap remains. Specifically, there has been inadequate scholarly focus on Remains of a Tide from a discourse analysis perspective. Previous studies have utilised frameworks such as Systemic Functional Grammar and Critical Stylistics, often overlooking the application of Cohesion Theory. This paper addresses this gap by employing Cohesion Theory to provide a comprehensive understanding of cohesive devices in Remains of a Tide. The objective of this study is to investigate the employment of cohesive devices in J.P. Clark’s Remains of a Tide. Halliday and Hasan’s Cohesion Theory serves as the analytical framework for identifying cohesive devices and their discourse functions within the anthology. The methodology entails a meticulous examination of cohesive devices in selected poems from Remains of a Tide. The findings reveal the pivotal roles played by cohesive devices such as conjunctions, references, repetitions, antonyms, and collocations in fulfilling various discourse functions—declarative, narrative, emotive, descriptive, and informative. Notably, certain cohesive devices, including ellipsis, metonymy, hyponyms, and synonyms, are absent. The conclusion underscores the significance of cohesive devices in enhancing the communicative efficacy of Clark’s poetry, while calling for further research on the remaining poems to deepen understanding of their socio-political implications. This study contributes to the broader field of literary linguistics by providing insights into how cohesion shapes meaning and ideology in poetic discourse.