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Logocentrism

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

The philosophical bias in Western tradition that privileges spoken language as more authentic than written text.

Detailed Definition
Logocentrism is the philosophical privileging of speech and rational language as the primary carriers of truth, critiqued in poststructuralist poetics; poets may challenge logocentrism through fragmentation, silence, or non-linguistic elements, asserting the limits of language in conveying experience.
Example
Example in poetry:
Logocentrism: Western lyric poetry often exhibits logocentrism—the privileging of speech and presence—as in Wordsworth’s belief that poetry is “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”
Additional Notes
Logocentrism: Derrida’s critique of Western thought privileging speech/logos as presence; in poetry, deconstructing logocentrism emphasizes writing’s play, absence, and deferral—key for poststructuralist reading.
Other Meanings of “Logocentrism”
Also Known As
Word-centered Language primacy Speech dominance Verbal privilege
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