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"With exemplary cases of original texts from across disciplines and cultures, this is the first book that discusses how reading and understanding could often be surreptitiously and serendipitously influenced by the 'invisible' but prosodically indispensable text-enlivened 'trivial' function words"--.

• Cover
• Comparative Literaturein the Light of ChineseProsody
• Comparative Literature in the Light of Chinese Prosody
• Copyright page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Content Words
  • Chapter 1
  • A Word that Makes a World of Difference
    • The Making of “Le Mot Juste” a Posteriori
    • The Inseparable Life-Making Content, Context, and Agency of a Worded World
    • The Memorable Lines and Indispensable “Le Mot Juste”
    • A Case of Content Word: Sound of “Coeur”
    • A Case of Content Words: 推 tuī (to Push) and 敲 qiāo (to Knock)
    • Hearing and Visualizing “Le Mot Juste” Live a Posteriori
    • “Museum Effect” of a Worded World on “Le Mot Juste”
    • Conclusion: “Museum Effect” and “Symphonic Tapestry” of “Le Mot Juste”
    • Notes
  • Chapter 2
  • “Le Mot Juste” and “Content Words”
    • Emily Dickinson: A Case of “to Slit,” “to Swing,” and “to Hit.”
    • Emily Dickinson: A Case with “to Maintain”
    • Emily Dickinson: A Case of “to Stop”
    • Robert Frost: Another Case of “to Stop”
    • Emily Dickinson: A Case of “Still”
    • T. S. Eliot and Henry James: Additional Cases of “Still”
    • Conclusion: Circumferences of Meaning Tilted upon “Le Mot Just”
    • Notes
  • Chapter 3
  • “Les Mots Justes” as Choices
    • Song Qi: A Case with 鬧 nào
    • Daodejing: A Case of 道 dào and 非常 fēi cháng
    • Ma Zhiyuan: A Case with 在 zài
    • Jiang Kui: Another Case with 在 zài and 仍 réng
    • Conclusion: “Le Mot Juste” as Vital “Technique”
    • Notes
• Function Words
  • Chapter 4
  • The Unheard Melodies of the Trivial
    • Emily Dickinson: A Case of “Like”
    • Robert Frost: A Case of “By”
    • Emily Dickinson: A Case of “That”
    • James Wright: Another Case of “That”
    • Matsuo Basho: A Case of no の ya や
    • Goethe: The Case of “über,” “im,” “du,” and “auch”
    • Chaucer, James, and Maupassant: A Case of “With,” “Her,” “leur,” and More
    • Joseph Conrad: The Miscellaneous Cases
    • Charles Baudelaire: A Case of Comme
    • Emily Dickinson: A Case of “Like,” “And,” “But,” and “Without”
    • Conclusion: The Magnificent of the Trivial
    • Notes
  • Chapter 5
  • Indispensability of Function Words as Life-Makers
    • Function Words: Indispensable Presence
    • Function Words: Subtle and Crucial Mediators
    • Wang Anshi: A Case of 祇 zhǐ (Just) and 又 yòu (Again)
    • Function Words: Irreplaceable Absence
    • Jiang Kui: The Making of Colorfully Fine-Tuned Picture
    • Liu Zong Yuan: An Absent Word That Makes a Colorfully Toned Worded World
    • Conclusion: The Trivial That Truly Matters
    • Notes
  • Chapter 6
  • Serendipity of the Familiar
    • Yijing: The Cases of 吾 wú, 與 yǔ, 爾 ěr, and 之 zhī
    • Jia Dao: A Special Case of 還 hái
    • Han Yu: A Special Case of 為之 wèi zhī
    • Yao Nai: A Special Case of 似 si (Like, As)
    • Zhuangzi: Special Cases of 者 zhě and more
    • The Special Cases in Shijing and Chuci
    • Dai Wangshu: A Case of the Meaningfully Meaningless 的 de, 了 le,” and 著 zhe
    • Conclusion: Function Words as “Invisible” Life-Sustaining Air
    • Notes
  • Chapter 7
  • Function Words as “Les Mots Justes”
    • Fei Bai and Liang Zongdai: A Case of Translation
    • Bei Dao: A Case with 的 de
    • Miller and Feng: A Cross-Cultural Interdisciplinary View
    • The Special Cases: Matsuo Bashô
    • Conclusion: Making Dead Alive through Function Words
    • Notes
  • Chapter 8
  • “Museum Effect” as “Le Mot Juste”
    • The Hidden Power of the Unnoticeable of
    • The Sound of a Love Song That Truly Matters
    • A Worded World as Colorfully “Symphonic Tapestry”
    • Conclusion: A Worded World Should Not Only “Be” but Also “Mean”
    • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Index
  • About the Author