Definition of "logocentrism" [logocentrism]

• A structuralist method of analysis, especially of literary works, that focuses upon words and language to the exclusion of non-linguistic matters, such as an author's individuality or historical context. (noun)
• Excessive attention paid to the meanings of words or distinctions in their usage. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The homegrown logocentrism that prevailed among them distinguished them in a region where men were supposed to be taciturn."
• "If we presume the signifier is the signified we fall into the trap of logocentrism."
• "The result is a "centrism," which Derrida characterizes, because of the master quality of the name logos for Greek thought, as "logocentrism.""