The Oulipo or l'Ouvoir de Litterature Potentielle:
A. The Oulipo is a literary group formed in 1960 by a French author, named Raymond Quneau, and a mathematician, named Francois Le Lionnais. Oulipo is an acronym the full name is "l'Ouvoir de Litterature Potentielle", or the workshop of potential literature. The group looks to prescribe rules and constraints to old literature and create rules and constraints by which new literature can be created. They were interested in the relationship between mathematics and literature for they felt that when the existing constraints have been exhausted, mathematics can be used to create new possible rules and constraints. To that end the group, like its' founders, is comprised of both writers and mathematicians. They feel that their function is to create these rules and constraints. Though many of their members create works, that is not the primary function of the group as they see it. So someone outside of the group can create a work that is considered Oulipian by following rules or constraints established by the group. They are a highly collaborative group and all work created that follows the work of the group is considered to be the groups' even if created by an individual author. Oulipo uses various methods for creating their rules and constraints. Some use the constraints of the alphabet while others use elaborate mathematical algorithms. In Queneau's work "Cent Mille Milliards de poemes", there are 10 sonnets where the lines can be re-attached and permeated in one hundred thousand billion ways. The amazing thing about it is that he managed to do this in such a way that all the possible combinations of lines would not break the rhyme scheme and they would all be grammatically correct. Another example of an Oulipian structure is the "N + 7". In this structure you take an existing text and replace each noun with the seventh noun following it in a given dictionary. This, as you can imagine, can lead to some very strange, yet humorous, permutations. It was ideas like this that led to early perceptions of the group as a bit eccentric and the early works of the group did little to dissuade that perception. However, as more renowned and respected people started to join the group and write more respected works, like Georges Perec and Italo Calvino, the perception of the group began to change. By the 1980's Oulipo was a reputable, renowned, and respected group. At this point, one might ask, "what does this have to do with new media?" I confess during most of my research I too struggled with that question as much of what I found on them related to more literary matters. Then I learned that they have done a lot of experiments with computers. It makes sense. Since they were interested in the relationship between mathematics and literature, why wouldn't they want to use a tool that could do more complex mathematical computations. In fact, many of their works follow a logic much like a computer program. In the book, "Oulipo-a primer of potential literature", published in 1986, I found a work called "The Theater Tree: A Combinatory Play". In this play, actors perform the first scene then the audience decides the next scene from a choice of two possible scenes. This continues throughout the play so that the structure is determined by the choices made along the way. This seemed to me to be a precursor to the nonlinear narratives we find today in websites, computer games, etc. Nonlinear narratives use an almost Oulipian like system of rules and constraint to determine the course and structure of the story you are viewing.
B. When talking about Oulipo artwork we must remember that it is a form of literature and not advanced media. The techniques applied to this form of creative writing are generally derived in mathematical formulae and other constraining techniques such as, lipograms (excluding specific words or letters from a work of writing). No new technologies made this style of writing possible it was simply invented by writers seeking to find and easier means of triggering inspiration. The innovation was not in a device or a machine but in the combination of literature and mathematics. One meeting of the Oulipo group was eventually recorded and broadcasted on the radio allowing the average person to listen in on the very exclusive group.
C. The Oulipo group was based on a mathematical way to write. Stylatic writing became popular. Uniqueness became important. Finding new ways to expose people to the writing also was vital. A radio broadcasted meeting happaned in the 1960s. "The seeking of new structures and patterns which may be used by writers in any way they enjoy” is the Oulipo mission. Media is constantly changing through the way it is transmitted and received. We now have news ways people can communicate. Through writing status updates on networking sites like facebook and twitter, people everywhere stay connected. Some write updates for emotional or informational purposes. Some sites, one can even add video or audio too instead of words. There are only certain amounts of characters or memory allowed per post. The computer is in charge of all the functions after a programmer transmits the correct codes. This is one way in which math is used. The Oulipo group also reminds me of the creators of Mac. They took something already popular, and formulated it using creativity.
D. How does the new art form reflect on the art forms that preceded it?
The members of Oulipo all shared a common passion for the written word. It was their love of words and mathematics that led them to test boundaries and experiment with writing techniques. The essence of the Oulipo society also known as the Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle originally began as an outlet to break free from the French structuralism of the time. Prior to Oulipo many writers adhered to the strict, serious writing techniques, but not all writers stayed within the realm of their craft. It has been documented that while writing his famous literary work, The Divine Comedy, Dante structured his work around a complex Trinitarian numerology concept. Any concept of three in The Divine Comedy represents the Holy Trinity. From this concept alone we can see that Dante constructs his work around this idea, similar to the Oulipo constraints implemented by so many members. A technique designed by Oulipo member Jean Lescure is the N + 7 procedure in which each noun is replaced with the seventh following it in a dictionary. The idea that members of the Oulipo society created the techniques they did for the purposes of creativity and inspiration affects the context in which we can understand their purpose. It is evident that although Oulipo members felt liberated by limiting themselves, writers have been implementing such techniques for quite
some time.
Example:
Below is an example of an OuLiPoian technique N+7:
In the bend God created the hen and the education. And the education was without founder, and void; and death was upon the falsehood of the demand. And the sport of God moved upon the falsehood of the wealth. And God said, Let there be limit; and there was limit.
E. The Oulipo movement is able to re-conceptualize the form of writing by placing certain constraints and patterns on various works, as well as provide new applications for various mathematical formulas. Implementing constraints such as the “N+7” method or the use of lipograms (excluding certain letters in various sentences) essentially enables each writer to produce a very unique work of art. Oulipan methods promote a sort of individuality, as each writer may implement any given method in their own way, creating thousands upon thousands of permutations, different from all other current creative writing pieces. In other words, it offers artists useful tools and templates to differentiate themselves and their works from any conventional methods of writing or dominant standards. Ever-developing formulas, permutations, and methods in mathematics offer new ways for Oulipan writers to produce works, and thus enable both mathematics and creative writing as a whole to branch out and take on new forms. Oulipo does not take into consideration the uniqueness or particularity of a certain word, but instead offers new ways to express an idea, essentially revolutionizing creative writing.
Sources:
"Oulipo- A Primer of Potential Literature", Ouipo Compendium
"Into the Maze: Oulipo" - www.Poets.org
www.UBUWEB.com
“Too Many E’s in These”
The 2001 E’s Text by P. ‘Dre Heresy
http://myweb.lmu.edu/pharris/2001e%27s.html
http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/images/morleyd/2008/07/09/oulipo_1.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment