Texts without cohesion: Understand how this can happen!

Before talking about texts without cohesion, an important question to better understand the subject. Do you know what cohesion is? Let's look at this important element for textual construction.

Textual cohesion is the factor that will guarantee a text greater readability, that is, it will allow the existence of a connection between the statements, preventing the text from becoming a pile of illogical sentences. The sentences must be connected, just like the paragraphs. Cohesion is made through elements such as prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns, adverbs, adverbial phrases and denoting words. We call these elements connectives and its presence in the text gives a better articulation of ideas.

However, cohesion does not always appear in some texts. How can this happen?

Well, this is because cohesion alone is not enough for a text to be considered a text. Of course, cohesive elements are desirable, but cohesion, unlike textual coherence, is not an indispensable factor. Let's look at some examples so that you understand exactly about texts without cohesion:

Bye, bye, Brazil

Hi, sweetheart Can't say much wait for the plane as the winter passes I think I'll get you It's hot here Fan crashed There is already an arcade in Macau I took the coast in Belém do Pará They put a plant in the sea Maybe it's bad for fishing My love In Tocantins the head of the Parintintins glazed in my Lee pants I saw some skates for you I saw a Brazil on TV Able to drop a log I'm feeling so lonely Oh! have pity on me painted a cool chance a bid there in the capital It doesn't even have to have high school My love No Tabaris the sound is like the Bee Gees I danced with an unhappy owner that has a typhoon in the hips there is a japanese behind me I'm going to Manaus Here it's forty-two degrees the sun will never set again I miss our song Longing for the countryside and backlands

It's really good to have a truck My love baby bye bye Hugs on mom and dad I think I will turn it off The chips will already run out I'll take the sled to Rua do Sol, Maceio I caught a disease in Ilhéus But I'm almost good In March I go to Ceará With the blessing of my Orixá I find bauxite over there My love Bye, bye Brazil The last chip fell I think about you night 'n day Explain that everything is OK I only walk within the law I want to go back, believe me I saw a Brazil on TV I caught a disease in Belem Now everything is ok But the call is at the end there is a japanese behind me That watercolor changed On the road I got a color Able to drop a log I'm feeling like a jiló I'm horny it's at sea as the winter passes I miss you I feel like facing a crab With the blessing of Our Lord the sun will never set again

(Composers: Roberto Menescal and Chico Buarque)

You may have noticed that the song's lyrics deal with a dialogue between lovers in a public phone booth. At first, you may even think it's a different text, with a lot of loose phrases that barely resemble a text the way we're used to. But as we progress in reading, we realize that there is a “dialogue”, even though we only hear one of the interlocutors. Although connectives are missing, text comprehension is not impaired, as we can infer that there is a girlfriend on the other end of the line and we can even “hear” what she says through the lines of the boyfriend. Therefore, if we simulate the dialogue that exists in “Bye, bye, Brasil”, we will understand exactly what the composer means by his music.

To recap: Cohesion is a very important element in the construction of a text, but it will not always be there to connect ideas and statements. But, as good readers that we are, when we come across a text like this, we will look for elements of textual coherence to give meaning to it, understanding that a text without cohesion is indeed possible.

By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters