Dissociation

Psychology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 disruption in consciousness, memory, or identity, often as a trauma response.

Detailed Definition
Dissociation in poetry manifests through fragmentation, gaps, and shifts in perspective or voice. Poets mirror the fractured self via disjointed syntax, collage, and erasure, as in modernist or experimental works. It allows exploration of trauma, postcolonial identity, or multiple selves, challenging unitary narratives. Dissociation becomes both subject and form, reflecting the mind's struggle to integrate painful experience.
Example
Example in poetry:
Dissociation in Christina Rossetti's "In an Artist's Studio" shows dissociation through trauma; Varian Ross's "MHI: MY HANDS ARE NOT MY OWN" describes dissociation where hands move without the speaker's agency; The poem "The Day Is Gone The Line Diminished" presents dissociation as poetic method; "Compartmentalization" links dissociation to fragmentation and mental isolation; T.S. Eliot's early poems explore dissociation through marionettes; "There's no 'sass' in 'dissociation'" uses a mnemonic to explore the word.
Additional Notes
Dissociation in poetry manifests through fragmentation, gaps, and shifts in perspective or voice, mirroring the fractured self via disjointed syntax, collage, and erasure. It allows exploration of trauma, postcolonial identity, or multiple selves, challenging unitary narratives. In teaching, distinguish dissociation from detachment: dissociation involves a disruption of consciousness, while detachment is emotional distance. Poetic techniques like line breaks, white space, and non-linear chronology can create dissociative effects. Dissociation becomes both subject and form, reflecting the mind's struggle to integrate painful experience.
Other Meanings of “Dissociation”
Also Known As
Fragmentation splitting detachment depersonalization
Skip to main content