Synthèse des définitions
-As a technical term, as distinct from its use in cultural activities to denote a range of qualities deemed desirable (e.g. clarity, orderliness, reasonableness, logicality, “making sense,” and even persuasiveness), coherence has tended to be regarded as a textlinguistic (TL) notion.[…]In broad terms, it is now widely recognized that coherence is ultimately a pragmatically-determined quality, requiring close attention to the specific sense made of the text in the cultural context. This might suggest that determining coherence is a simple matter of applying common sense in context; but narratives often go beyond common sense, that transcending being crucial to their importance and tellability, so that narratological studies of coherence suggest common sense is not a sufficient guide.
(Michael Toolan, Handbook of Narratology, Berlin/New York, Walter de Gruyter, 2009. Définition complète)
- Au-delà des conventions de composition et d'harmonie, ou contre elles, cette notion définit l'unité de l'œuvre de manière pragmatique, par l'association étroite de ses divers éléments. Cette stricte liaison relève du jeu causal ou de la continuité logique, fût-t-elle paradoxale. Elle est adéquate à l'esthétique réaliste, et à son contraire, l'esthétique fantastique.
(Jacques Demougin, Dictionnaire historique, thématique et technique des littératures, Paris, Larousse, 1985)
Lectures