Statement of the Problem and Objective: Collocation, which arises from the mutual relationship between words within a text, constitutes a type of lexical cohesion and forms part of the broader concept of textual coherence. The term cohesion was first introduced by Halliday and Hasan (1976). According to these two linguists, reference, ellipsis, substitution, conjunction, and lexical cohesion are the principal mechanisms that create textual cohesion. Lexical cohesion itself is divided into two categories: repetition and collocation. Collocation encompasses various subtypes, and the purposeful use of these forms not only enhances textual continuity but also foregrounds the thematic focus of a work, thereby aiding the reader’s comprehension. By creating harmony among the words in a text—through relationships such as contrast, association, co-occurrence, or part–whole relations—collocation enables words to cohere and generate a unified textual structure. Furthermore, the patterns of collocation among certain lexical items may reveal the underlying ideology of the text, reflecting the author’s conceptual framework and personal experiences. Investigating these relationships can thus illuminate the writer’s motives and ideological orientation. The novel Al-Jaziyah wa al-Darawish (Al-Jaziyah and the Dervishes) by Abdul Hamid bin Hadouqa (1925–1996)—the author of the first Arabic novel written in Algeria—provides a rich literary corpus that implicitly addresses the Algerian social and political condition. The present study aims to determine how the cohesive element of collocation contributes to textual unity and how it functions to highlight the novel’s central themes and ideological concerns.
Methodology: This study adopts a descriptive–analytical approach grounded in Halliday and Hasan’s theory of cohesion. Instances of collocation in Al-Jaziyah wa al-Darawish were identified, categorized, and statistically analyzed to determine the frequency of each type and its role in the text’s overall cohesion. The analysis also considers contextual and intertextual factors, interpreting how collocational structures reveal and reinforce the author’s ideological stance and the thematic fabric of the novel.
Discussion and Analysis: Drawing on the text of Al-Jaziyah wa al-Darawish, the study identifies and quantifies various types of collocation, analyzing their significance in both structural and ideological terms. The novel’s dual temporal structure—comprising two distinct timeframes across eight sections—reveals a consistent use of contrast both in its title and its narrative development. Hadouqa juxtaposes Al-Jaziyah and Al-Darawish to represent a dialogue between national identity and intellectual crisis, as well as between the worshipped and the worshippers. The recurrence of these two names throughout the narrative creates semantic continuity and cohesion. The contrasts embedded within the text function not only as cohesive devices but also as ideological constructs. Hadouqa frequently employs antithetical relationships to raise reader awareness, using them to promote the ideals of resistance and non-conformity—values that underpin the novel’s broader ideological message. The main characters—Al-Jaziyah, Al-Darawish, Al-Ra‘ah, Al-Shambit, Al-Tayyib, and Al-Ahmar—are all symbolic, and the associative meanings of their names reinforce the novel’s central themes. Such collocations of semantically related lexemes establish both coherence and ideological unity across the text. Hadouqa’s use of collocation is not confined to the primary theme of national struggle; it also extends to other related domains—social, cultural, and political—reflecting the multifaceted realities of Algerian life. Collocations reflecting part-to-part relationships are relatively infrequent and serve primarily descriptive purposes, though some instances subtly reference the novel’s overarching subject. Likewise, collocations denoting part-to-whole relations are limited in number but play a noticeable role in maintaining textual cohesion. Collocations involving words from an organized set are rare, yet even these few occurrences add both cohesion and ideological resonance. The use of color terms—al-ahmar (red), al-akhḍar (green), and al-abyad (white)—creates a distinct collocational network of unordered sets. Notably, Hadouqa names two characters Al-Ahmar and Al-Akhdar, symbolizing two competing ideologies—Islamic and socialist. By juxtaposing these names, the author articulates his ideological stance toward the socio-political structure of Algeria and its postcolonial tensions.
Findings: The analysis demonstrates that all forms of collocation contribute to the textual and semantic cohesion of Al-Jaziyah wa al-Darawish. The cohesive power of collocation establishes strong interconnections between words and meanings, reinforcing the unity of the text. The highest frequencies occur in collocations related to the novel’s primary theme (47% in the first timeframe and 41% in the second) and those based on contrast (36% and 35%, respectively). These patterns significantly enhance textual coherence and highlight the themes of Algerian resistance, national independence, and defiance against conformity. The lowest frequencies appear in part-to-whole and part-to-part relationships in the first timeframe (5.5%) and in collocations involving organized sets in the second (1.1%). Despite their lower occurrence, these types also play a supporting role in foregrounding the novel’s central themes.