in the city of N

[Michele A Berdy]

I should have noted that we recalled Yalta (Chekhov) and Pyatigorsk (Lermontov), Tula (Leskov) and some Soviet authors.

 

 

From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Sarah Hurst
Sent: Monday, November 04, 2013 6:37 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] in the city of N

 

Дама с собачкой - Yalta. 

 

Sarah Hurst

 

On Mon, Nov 4, 2013 at 2:19 PM, Michele A Berdy <maberdy at gmail.com> wrote:

Dear SEELANGers

An internet friend with an engaging blog called LanguageHat posed a question a few days ago that I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know the answer to and in fact never thought to ask. He asked why Russian authors writing about provincial cities called them “N” (or S, etc.). Beyond “it’s a convention” and “it gives an air of verisimilitude” – I have no idea. Where did this convention come from? Has anyone written about this?

 

The second question that followed: can anyone think of pre-revolutionary Russian fiction about provincial cities (other than St. Petersburg and Moscow) where the city is identified? 

Many thanks!

Michele Berdy

 

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