Non-coherent cohesive texts

Abstract

This article examines the function of cohesive devices (i.e., the linguistic tools that are usually used to link the various parts of the text) in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. In Lucky’s soliloquy, certain cohesive devices are employed intensively so as to impede immediate understanding. At the same time, Beckett’s distinctive use of cohesive devices uniquely establishes a more profound awareness of the work’s message, which this article identifies as strategic coherence. This paper employed an embedded (QUAL:quan) mixed-methods approach and a validated model of cohesion to analyse Lucky’s speech.