Striked-out Parts of Names in Older Literature

[NanakiXIII]

At the moment I'm reading Jane Eyre by Emily Brontë and I've come across several instances of a phenomenon I don't quite understand. Occasionally a name isn't written out, but only the first letter is printed and the rest is replaced by "--". For example, there was an instance where someone was referred to as "Miss G--" (I'm not sure of the actual first letter, nor the title, but the general syntax was such). I've also seen a couple of times the word "--shire". I'm not sure the hyphens replace anything there, but it would make some sense, I'd think. There were more instances, which I do not recall at the moment, and I had nothing to mark the pages at the time.
I have also encountered this phenomenon before, I'm not sure anymore in what book. It might have been The Scarlet Pimpernel. In any case, it was an older book.

So my question is, why are these names treated so? Does anyone know?

[Logos]

There are a number of reasons why you might see "----", "---", "—" or other similar punctuation denoting a real or fictitious person's name, a geographical place name, a date, a phrase, etc. in literature, correspondence, plays, poems, etc. I have not yet come across a general rule :)

In say, pre-19th or 20th century literature, it usually has something to do with propriety: for instance Edwardian or Victorian social mores that deem it 'indelicate' to mention full names, whether real or fictitious, so as not to cause any speculation on the reader's part as to who the author might be referring to in real life. So, in chapter 10 of Jane Eyre (http://www.online-literature.com/brontec/janeeyre/), indeed she writes

"Those who want situations advertise; you must advertise in the -shire Herald."

because it could prove 'scandalous' for the author (who first published Eyre under her 'masculine' pseudonym Currer Bell, as it was also 'unseemly' for a woman to be an accomplished author of anything other than cookbooks and 'Miss Manners'-style works :p )

In chapter 4 of Eyre, Bronte writes

"I will, madam. Little girl, here is a book entitled the 'Child's Guide,' read it with prayer, especially that part containing 'An account of the awfully sudden death of Martha G -, a naughty child addicted to falsehood and deceit.'"

Gawd forbid that there are any real 'Martha G'-somethings out there who might take offense at the suggestion that they're dead just because they were naughty !

In the end, it doesn't matter if we don't know the child's full name, or the exact 'shire' (county) where the newspaper is published, it doesn't take away from the story.

[ClickForth]

okokok

[NanakiXIII]

Ah, that makes some sense, thanks for your reply, Logos. It leaves me to wonder, however, why only some names are censored that way, while most aren't. Are only the names of places or people that are spoken of in a negative way treated to this censorship to prevent offense? If so, why is Gateshead or such not censored. Mightn't there be an estate with that name somewhere, so that people could take offense? Or does the fact that censoring everything from Gateshead to John Reed would disrupt the writing too much?

[StayGolden]

I think it also depends upon the publisher and/or translator. In my copy of The Idiot by Dostoevsky none of the names are censored like that, but in a friend's copy (a different translation) several are.

[mtpspur]

I always thought it was deliberate to get the sense that the story was taking place in the real world and if we knew the name of K--- ot R--- we would know who, what, where etc. Seemed to be a harmless literary trick of the trade.

[PeterL]

I agree with mtspur. It creates the illusion that real people, whose names should be protected, were involved.

[Logos]

I think it also depends upon the publisher and/or translator. In my copy of The Idiot by Dostoevsky none of the names are censored like that, but in a friend's copy (a different translation) several are.

True, I've seen wildly varying texts, especially translated ones, makes sense. Also, if you're reading (online) electronically generated texts, the software that 'reads' a scanned page does not always 'get' it, there are crazy 'typos' or odd characters sometimes.


I always thought it was deliberate to get the sense that the story was taking place in the real world and if we knew the name of K--- ot R--- we would know who, what, where etc. Seemed to be a harmless literary trick of the trade.
Well! you said it so much shorter and sweeter than I did ! :D
(heh heh, I've been known to be long-winded, in case you didn't notice)