Statement of the Problem and Objective: Cognitive linguistics, one of the core branches of modern linguistics, explores the relationship between language, structure, and text as a means of decoding meaning. Each poet, shaped by their literary milieu and socio-historical circumstances, selects particular linguistic and stylistic elements that correspond to their intended themes, creating coherence between poetic language and artistic purpose. Examining these discursive and structural layers is essential for understanding how meaning is conveyed to the reader. Paul Werth, a prominent theorist in the field of cognitive linguistics, proposed an integrative model that unites principles of text linguistics and cognitive linguistics. His Text World Theory offers a comprehensive framework that extends beyond earlier approaches such as Beaugrande and Dressler’s Introduction to Text Linguistics (1981) and Van Dijk and Kintsch’s works (1983). Werth conceptualizes literary discourse through three interrelated levels—the text world, the discourse world, and the sub-world—providing a systematic means to analyze the linguistic and cognitive structures underlying literary texts. Yahya Samawi, a leading contemporary Iraqi poet, employs both emotional depth and vivid imagination in his work. His poetry oscillates between complexity and accessibility, yet consistently centers on the suffering and devastation caused by American occupation and its impact on his homeland. This study aims to analyze Samawi’s collection Shāhidat Qabr min Rukhām al-Kalimāt (A Tombstone of Marble Words) through Werth’s cognitive linguistic framework, focusing on the dynamics of the text world, discourse world, and sub-world.
Methodology: This research employs a descriptive–analytical method, applying Paul Werth’s Text World Theory—which encompasses the interrelated patterns of the text world, discourse world, and sub-world—to the analysis of Yahya Samawi’s poetry collection Shāhidat Qabr min Rukhām al-Kalimāt. Data have been gathered through library research and textual analysis, emphasizing the cognitive and linguistic mechanisms through which meaning is constructed and perceived.
Discussion and Analysis: Cognitive linguistics provides an innovative perspective for literary analysis by linking linguistic structure with mental representation. Werth’s model, due to its comprehensiveness, enables a deep linguistic and cognitive examination of literary works. Traditional literary criticism often falls short in bridging the text world with the reader’s interpretive world; thus, Werth’s framework offers a means to enter the text scientifically while preserving its aesthetic creativity. Given the occupation of Iraq and its resulting social suffocation, Samawi conceals his fundamental political and human concerns beneath layered poetic and rhetorical expression. His collection Shāhidat Qabr min Rukhām al-Kalimāt—when analyzed through Werth’s cognitive poetic approach—facilitates the reader’s comprehension of the poet’s core intentions and emotional vision. Through his imaginative structuring, Samawi manipulates time (frequent shifts between past and future to evoke reflection and hope), space (constantly changing settings expressing suffocation and sorrow), and perspective (shifts between first- and third-person narration). These elements interact within the text world and discourse world to expand the semantic and emotional scope of his poetry. The poet’s stylistic strategies—such as vivid world-building, associative imagery, and propositional layering—guide the reader through both the emotional and ideological dimensions of the text.
Findings: Analysis reveals that Samawi’s dominant aim in constructing the text world is to portray his homeland’s suffering under foreign occupation. Temporal movement between past and future serves to immerse the reader in historical experience while inspiring perseverance and envisioning renewal. The spatial world reflects oppression and displacement, embodying the poet’s preoccupation with exile and loss. Within the discourse world, Samawi establishes an intimate dialogue with his audience, sharing his memories, aspirations, and collective pain. The poet enriches the text world through cohesive world-building elements, particularly propositional expansions that reflect his didactic and humanitarian purposes. All three sub-world dimensions—temporal, deictic, and modal—are active in this collection. Samawi employs temporal shifts, perspectival changes, and symbolic compression to merge personal and collective experience, thereby achieving a multidimensional poetic discourse.