Title

Reading Prosodically, Reading Serendipitously: Fine-Tuning for the Unheard Melodies of “Dao”

Author

Chen, Shu-dong  

Genre

Article  

Pages

379-400  

Download

PDF

Language

English  

Key words

prosodic literature, philosophy, classical Chinese literature, comparative literature, translation  

Abstract

        Feng Shengli 馮勝利’s studies of prosodic morphology have directed the author’s attention to the crucial but often underestimated influences of the sound of words over meaning. This paper argues how we might re-read the familiar and the classical, such as the aesthetically visual poem by Ma Zhiyuan 馬致遠 (1250-1321) and the ambiguous text of Daodejing 《道德經》, especially the first two sentences, not only in terms of the cultural milieu but also in accordance with the linguistic environment that defines the particular textual expressions. Along these lines, we can also better understand the intricate relationships between meaning and sound, mind and rhythm, eye and ear, and intra- and extra-linguistic elements, for a healthy counterbalance to our habitual emphasis on meaning or its cultural and visual appearance, often at the expense of sound. In this way, we can understand how otherwise “silent” or insignificant sound also influences the way we read or interpret both poetry and prose.