Linguistic Deviation and the Construction of Poetics: A Reading of Jean Cohen’s Theory

This study examines linguistic deviation as a fundamental principle of poetics in the theory of Jean Cohen. It explores deviation as a mechanism through which ordinary linguistic structures are transformed into forms of expression with creative and aesthetic functions. The study also traces the rhetorical foundations of this concept in classical Arabic criticism, particularly in metaphor, ellipsis, iltifāt (shifts in address), and other stylistic practices that depart from conventional usage. In addition, it analyzes syntactic and semantic deviation in selected examples of modern Arabic poetry, focusing on their role in constructing poetic imagery and intensifying meaning. The study concludes that Cohen’s theory has contributed to the development of systematic approaches to stylistic analysis by shifting the study of poetry from impressionistic interpretation toward an analysis grounded in the linguistic structure of poetic discourse.