Multiple Contrast Connectives and Their Contribution to the Cohesion and Poetics of Yehuda Amichai’s Poetry

Abstract

Abstract The article presents an interdisciplinary stylistic study of the language of Yehuda Amichai’s poetry in his last and enigmatic book, “Open Closed Open” (1998). The study examines his extensive use of contrast words and their contribution to the cohesion and poetics of the book’s poems. All 296 poems in the book were examined, and the contrast words were documented alongside the content of each poem. Stylistic examination reveals an exceptionally extensive 138 appearances of contrast words, among them 107 occurrences of aval . Analysis of the discourse in this research focuses on the function of the contrast words, and their meaning is determined according to semantic distinctions, which are based on the text’s interpretation. It was found that the cohesion in the book is reflected in structure and content, which explains the enigmatic meaning of the book’s title.