in the city of N

[Sasha Spektor]

I meant the first one, of course.  But thank you for clarifying.
S.


On Mon, Nov 4, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Vadim Besprozvany <vbesproz at umich.edu>wrote:

> Mtsensk is a town in Orlovskaia oblast' (Russia)
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 4, 2013 at 11:08 AM, Sasha Spektor <xrenovo at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Do made up provincial towns count?  Skotoprigon'evsk then.  But also
>> Mtsensk of Lady Macbeth, for example.
>>
>> Best,
>> Sasha.
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 4, 2013 at 10:29 AM, Fusso, Susanne <sfusso at wesleyan.edu>wrote:
>>
>>>   I always tell my students, "It's like at the end of every *Dragnet*episode:  'The names have been changed to protect the innocent.'"  Then I
>>> have to explain what *Dragnet* is.
>>>
>>>   Susanne Fusso
>>> Professor of Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
>>> Wesleyan University
>>> 262 High Street
>>> Middletown, CT  06459
>>> 860-685-3123
>>>
>>>
>>>   From: Michele A Berdy <maberdy at GMAIL.COM>
>>> Reply-To: "SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures
>>> list" <SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU>
>>> Date: Monday, November 4, 2013 9:19 AM
>>> To: "SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU" <SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU>
>>> Subject: [SEELANGS] in the city of N
>>>
>>>   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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>>
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>
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