One. The en dash as a stand-in for missing text. In transcriptions of epigraphic, papyrological, and manuscript texts, breaks in the physical medium (whether complete absence, or simply totally obscuring abrasion, for instance) are marked with [square brackets]. If the text is reconstructable it will simply be written (squa[re br]ackets). If the letters have a regular width such that the number missing is relatively secure, they are written with ..., one for each letter (squa[.....]ackets). If however there's no way of knowing how many letters are missing, the en-dash appears on the scene (squa[- - - ).
Of course Carson, in her Sappho, limits herself to brackets and lets the absence speak for itself.
Two. In the last quotation, the extended dashes not only give a cosmic scale, they also mimic the continuous shirorekha line of the Devanagari script used to write Sanskrit.
Excellent, unsurprisingly.
Two notes:
One. The en dash as a stand-in for missing text. In transcriptions of epigraphic, papyrological, and manuscript texts, breaks in the physical medium (whether complete absence, or simply totally obscuring abrasion, for instance) are marked with [square brackets]. If the text is reconstructable it will simply be written (squa[re br]ackets). If the letters have a regular width such that the number missing is relatively secure, they are written with ..., one for each letter (squa[.....]ackets). If however there's no way of knowing how many letters are missing, the en-dash appears on the scene (squa[- - - ).
Of course Carson, in her Sappho, limits herself to brackets and lets the absence speak for itself.
Two. In the last quotation, the extended dashes not only give a cosmic scale, they also mimic the continuous shirorekha line of the Devanagari script used to write Sanskrit.
Fabulous, deliciously nerdy points, Dan! Thank you!
I love hypens and dashes!
Thank you! Nobody has really ever taught me the difference between all of these!
You're definitely not alone! It's one of those things that slips under the radar for most of us. I'm glad you found this helpful!