I was born in 19-- in D—, a small town in Illinois, to my parents, M— and K— …
Enough. Why did authors (or their editors) feel the need to do that? Specifically, why is small detail in 19th C novels and short fiction omitted using means vaguely reminiscient of the CIA’s FOIA non-compliance? I can see no reason to protect the personal details of fictional characters.
Did they think their fiction would age that badly? Did they think stuff like that would help?
This question has plagued me, a voracious book collector, for too long.
RM Mentock is right. According to what I’ve read, they thought it made the story sound realistic. Kind of like saying, we’ve changed the names to protect the innocent.
Poe did this a lot. Some of his stories were intended as hoaxes. He had them published in newspapers and hoped people would believe they were true. This was a common newspaper stunt at the time.
So when you read a Poe story, and he says “the esteemed Dr. M-----,” you’re supposed to be intrigued and try to figure out what real doctor he’s talking about.
Of course, most stories like this weren’t deliberate hoaxes. But they still did it, because they felt it gave the stories a feeling of realism.
Another more modern example - imagine writing a fictional story where you say, “A certain former president, who shall remain nameless…”
There are some examples regarding censorship where authors use a nameless area/city/relation to make a comment that the censors won’t catch. Much of this is lost to time.
To extend the “a certain former president”, “a certain judge in a certain province” which may have recently had regional importance means nothing to a crowd 150 years later.
Not so prevelant in American literature, but take a look at Russia, where half the artistry has always been in dodging censors.
This happens a lot in movies, where you have a generic president who obviously isn’t supposed to be anyone in particular. I’m also thinking of the first few Tom Clancy Novels, where the president was only mentioned by his title.
Um, do you mean 19th century novels (ie, stuff that happened in the 1800s) or the 20th century (ie, stuff that happened in the 1900s). Your OP is a little misleading.
I also like the Mentock’s theory. Contrast the modern usage of 555-1234. It is so patently fake that, for me, it ruins a movie or TV show scene. They would do better to mumble something incoherent than to use the 555 thing. And that would be the equivalent of Mr. M_____.
I used my personal info. I was born in the 20th century (between 1901 and 2000, inclusive), and I was born in Illinois to parents with the initials M. and K.