Why are names abbreviated in certain books?

Question

When reading certain books I will encounter names of places or people that have been abbreviated. An example is in Catherine Hutter's translation of Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther":

A few days ago I met a man called V., an ingenuous fellow with a very pleasant face.

Why is this done?

This is the fallacy known as "complex question": the question, as it is phrased, assumes facts not in evidence. — Robusto, Jun 08 '11 at 12:16
It's not an exact duplicate, but there is considerable discussion of this at Why, in old books, are dates often given with the years redacted? — Colin Fine, Jun 08 '11 at 11:50
thanks that does appear to cover the same issues. I always just assumed it was related to translation but it seems to be more related to particular periods. Fascinating. — DQdlM, Jun 08 '11 at 12:10

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 10 '11 at 10:41

8

Actually it's not a matter of translation.

I've checked the Italian version and the original German version (it should be the second entry), and they both had it abbreviated. So they just took it as is from the original work.

edited Jun 10 '11 at 10:41

RegDwigнt

97,231

answered Jun 08 '11 at 11:00

Alenanno

18,136

3

Yes, I seem to see this most frequently in Victorian novels, and always assumed it was because the author didn't want to come up with another name if the character wasn't central to the story. Either that or they wanted to give the impression that they were alluding to a real, contemporary person. However, that's purely speculation on my part. – Kit Z. Fox Jun 08 '11 at 11:46
3

@Kit There's a reference for that in the link from Colin: "Initials, blanks, or both were often substituted for proper names in nineteenth century fiction to enhance the illusion of reality. It is as if the author felt it necessary to delete the names for reasons of tact or legal liability." – j-g-faustus Jun 08 '11 at 13:40
@j-g-faustus I saw that, thanks. It's really interesting. – Kit Z. Fox Jun 08 '11 at 13:43

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 08 '11 at 11:47

1

My German copy of Die Leiden des jungen Werthers does exactly the same thing:

Vor wenig Tagen traf ich einen jungen V. an, einen offnen Jungen, mit einer gar glücklichen Gesichtsbildung.

answered Jun 08 '11 at 11:47

Robusto

151,571

Thursagen · Answer 3 · 2011-06-08T11:52:00.547

0

Sometimes this can be because they do not wish to disclose their real names. As in your own example, as well as:

Mr. B. walked passed me this morning.

In a letter:

Sincerely yours,

V.

edited Jun 08 '11 at 11:52

answered Jun 08 '11 at 11:37

Thursagen

41,919

Why are names abbreviated in certain books?

3 Answers3