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Collective utterance

Concept
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A poetic expression that voices the shared experience, identity, or perspective of a group rather than an individual

Detailed Definition
Collective utterance describes a poetic voice that speaks not as an individual but as a representative of a community, generation, or cultural group, using inclusive pronouns (“we,” “us”) and shared experiences to articulate communal identity, grief, resistance, or celebration; this mode is common in protest poetry, national epics, and oral traditions where poetry serves as a vessel for collective memory and solidarity.
Example
Example in poetry:
The “We” poems of the Black Arts Movement, like Amiri Baraka’s “SOS,” speak for a collective Black experience; Muriel Rukeyser’s “The Book of the Dead” gives voice to miners and families affected by silicosis; Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” includes “I am the man, I suffer’d, I was there” to merge individual and communal identity; contemporary climate poems often use “we” to express shared planetary fate.
Additional Notes
Collective utterance describes poetry voiced by a communal “we” rather than an individual “I”; common in protest poetry, folk traditions, or choral works, it fosters solidarity and shared experience.
Also Known As
Choral voice Communal lyric Shared poetic speech Collective assertion combined voice communal voice
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