Between the Lines: Punctuation in English Translations of Die Marquise von O …

This article examines the translation of Kleist’s punctuation in the context of his novella The Marquise of O … in which one em-dash in particular is, by tradition, burdened with particular significance, and argues that the six main English translations to date have not read Kleist’s punctuation within the text as a system of punctuation that draws together relevant passages of the text, creating a network of non-verbal insinuations about the paternity of the protagonist’s child.