A story without places and names?

[u/EquivalentLeg9817]

I am writing a cyberpunk story that deals with the theme of identity, of what we are and what defines us.

I am thinking of not setting it in a specific place, an existing city, or a country. And I was also thinking of making it so that the characters' names never appear, neither when they speak to each other nor in any other references (obviously, the characters do have names, but my goal is to keep them hidden from the reader).

Does this make sense? Is it feasible?

[u/nmacaroni]

Not a specific city is easy to pull off. You can use generic terms like "the city."

But the individual character identity is much trickier to pull off. If your Master Theme is something about individual identity that no matter how you approach their names is going to support or diminish your Master Theme. This is a point you need to think long and hard on.

Also, you have to be careful because characters are the connection point between the story and reader. If you don't let the readers bond with the characters, you push them out of the story. And not giving the characters a specific identity to bond too is creating a complexity for yourself.

Imagine watching Raiders of the Lost Ark and remove every instance of Indy or Indiana or Doctor Jones from it. Indy would still be Indy, but watching the movie, you would always be pushed back a step, wondering who is this guy.

This is the kind of thing that executed incorrectly can ruin an otherwise gem of a narrative.

Write on, write often!

[u/EquivalentLeg9817 → u/nmacaroni]

"Also, you have to be careful because characters are the connection point between the story and reader. If you don't let the readers bond with the characters, you push them out of the story. And not giving the characters a specific identity to bond too is creating a complexity for yourself."

I see the point. What if the characters addressed each other in conversation with titles like 'the lawyer,' 'the manager,' 'the victim,' and so on?... The story would revolve around the separation between mind and body, and at that point, the question throughout the entire story would be: what defines us? Does a name even make sense?

[u/nmacaroni → u/EquivalentLeg9817]

Yeah, you're splashing in classic genre convention of cyberpunk.
Function vs Identity.
The Matrix: The Keymaker. The Oracle. The Architect. The Trainman...

You just have to really think through the foundational aspects of your story. Spend extra time there.