Abstract:
The present article deals with the concept of coherence as a pragmatically
determined quality of text production and reception. It presents the analysis of coherence
manifestation in the short story “Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie” by B. Bainbridge
focusing on the structural and discoursal elements that preclude the unity of the
narrative. It considers the peculiarities of the etic opening, the interference of the main
line and subsidiary lines of the narrative, and the dramatic irony and their impact on the
linear development of the narrative. In addition, the manifestations of different forms of
discourse which function as markers of distinct narratorial or character viewpoints are
commented on with a view to determining the reader’s degree of interpretative
cooperation in completing the blanks and solving the indeterminacies.
