The Rhetoric of the Text in Diaa Al-Din Rajab's Poetry in the Light of the Standards of Textuality

Abstract

This study, titled "Reference in the Poetry of Diya Al-Din Rajab: A Study in the Rhetoric of the Text," is a textual analysis that seeks to uncover the cohesion of the poet's works using the standard of cohesion—specifically through the tool of reference—which is one of the most important standards proposed by Robert de Beaugrande. This standard contributes significantly to the coherence and unity of texts.

Cohesion is achieved through a set of linguistic tools, and scholars classify cohesion into two types: grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion. Among the most prominent linguistic tools that exhibit grammatical cohesion is reference. This study aims to explore the manifestations of reference in the poetry of the Saudi poet Diya Al-Din Rajab, whose poetry is compiled in a large diwan (poetry collection) comprising three sections:

1."Zahmat Al-‘Umr" (The Crowded Life)

2."Subuhat" (Spiritual Reflections)

3."Ritha’" (Elegy)

This diwan was published in 456 pages by Dar Al-Asfahani Printing House in Jeddah. The "Zahmat Al-‘Umr" section contains the largest number of poems, totaling 155, covering themes of social, national, and romantic poetry. The "Subuhat" section consists of 26 poems reflecting on religious and spiritual matters. The "Ritha’" section includes 14 elegiac poems composed by the poet following the death of his son and other notable figures.

The researcher has chosen to subject this material to literary analysis, utilizing text linguistics methodologies, which integrate aspects of language and rhetoric. This study extensively benefits from the concepts introduced by Robert de Beaugrande in his well-known work "Text, Discourse, and Process", which was translated into Arabic by Dr. Tammam Hassan.