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Disjunctive lyric

Genre
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 modern lyric that emphasizes disconnection, rupture, and instability in form and theme, reflecting postmodern or existential sensibilities.

Detailed Definition
Disjunctive lyric is a mode of poetry that fractures the traditional lyric “I” through abrupt shifts in voice, perspective, or syntax, resisting coherent subjectivity in favor of fragmentation, interruption, and multiplicity; this approach reflects postmodern skepticism toward unified identity and appears in the work of poets like Lyn Hejinian or Susan Howe, where the self is dispersed across textual gaps and competing discourses.
Example
Example in poetry:
John Ashbery’s “Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror” uses disjunctive lyric: fragmented perspectives; disjunctive lyric avoids linear narrative for cognitive leaps; modern example: Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen” shifts between prose and lyric disjunctively; this technique reflects postmodern subjectivity; it challenges coherence for emotional truth; disjunctive lyric often uses collage.
Additional Notes
Disjunctive lyric fractures syntax, logic, or perspective to convey psychological or social fragmentation; hallmark of avant-garde poetry—balance chaos with underlying emotional core.
Also Known As
Fragmented lyric Broken lyric Discontinuous personal poem Fractured subjective verse
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