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Dear fellow lovers of the Japanese language, please bear with my possibly foolish question.
I've come across this sentence in a visual novel (Fate/Stay Night): が、人の噂など当てにならないのが常だ。こんな勝負を持ち出すあたり、男嫌いというより、単に今まで興味がなかっただけかもしれない。
I'm not sure as to what exactly "あたり" means in this context. Is it the usual meaning as a noun (success / vicinity), or something else? Can it be replaced with something like のは without the sentence losing much of its original meaning?
Thank you for your patience.
"Is it the usual meaning as a noun (success / vicinity), or something else?"
You are thinking of another word 「[当]{あ}たり」 as you mention "success". "Vicinity", however, is strongly related to the word in question.
This one is 「[辺]{あた}り」. 「当たり」 and 「辺り」 are pronounced differently as well -- pitch accent-wise, that is.
This usage of 「～～～あたり」(It is more than O.K. to write it in kana.) may not be easy for the learner. It is a somewhat euphemistic way of giving an example and making a comment about it.
The structure is 「(an example) + あたり + (speaker's comment or opinion)」.
"Can it be replaced with something like のは without the sentence losing much of its original meaning?"
Good insight! That is exactly what I meant by "euphemistic".
If you said something like "～～が～～するのは～～だ", it could at times sound too straightforward and/or judgemental. By using 「あたり」, you can soften things a little without changing the meaning.
「こんな勝負を持ち出すあたり、～～～」 means:
"Her proposing a match like that, for instance, (makes me wonder ~~~~)"
