Oulipo - History, Oulipian works, Constraints, Members

A French literary movement of the 1970s. Under the influence of Raymond Queneau and Alfred Jarry, an atelier of writers sought a new way of expression through word-play and other experiments with language.

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Oulipo stands for "Ouvroir de littérature potentielle", which translates roughly as "workshop of potential literature".

The group defines the term 'littérature potentielle' as (rough translation): "the seeking of new structures and patterns which may be used by writers in any way they enjoy".

History

Oulipo was founded on November 24, 1960, as a subcommittee of the Collège de ‘Pataphysique entitled Séminaire de littérature expérimentale.

Oulipian works

Some examples of Oulipian writing:

Roubaud's La Belle Hortense, a whimsical detective story, in which six princes, all brothers, are suspects.

Queneau's Exercices de Style (Exercises in Style ), in which he tells the same simple story ninety-nine times, each in a different style.

Queneau's Cent Mille Milliards de Poèmes (Hundred Thousand Billion Poems) is inspired by children's picture books in which each page is cut into horizontal strips which can be turned independently, allowing different pictures (usually of people) to be combined in many ways.

Constraints

Some Oulipian constraints:

The "N+7" method: Replace every noun in a text with the noun seven entries after it in a dictionary. The previous sentence is a lipogram in B, F, H, J, K, Q, V, Y, and Z (it doesn't contain any of those letters.)

The prisoner's constraint (a.k.a the "macao" constraint) is a type of lipogram that omits letters with "legs" (b, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, p, q, t, and y).

Palindromes

Members

Founding members

The founding members of Oulipo representing a range of intellectual pursuits including writers, university professors, mathematicians, engineers, and 'pataphysicians:

Noël Arnaud Jacques Bens Claude Berge Jacques Duchateau Latis François Le Lionnais Jean Lescure Raymond Queneau Jean Queval Albert-Marie Schmidt

Members as of 2005

Note that Oulipo members are still considered members after their deaths, although dead members are excused from group meetings.

Noël Arnaud Valérie Beaudouin Marcel Bénabou Jacques Bens Claude Berge André Blavier Paul Braffort Italo Calvino François Caradec Bernard Cerquiglini Ross Chambers Stanley Chapman Marcel Duchamp Jacques Duchateau Luc Etienne Frédéric Forte Paul Fournel Anne Garetta Michelle Grangaud Jacques Jouet Latis François Le Lionnais Hervé Le Tellier Jean Lescure Harry Mathews Michèle Métail Ian Monk Oskar Pastior Georges Perec Raymond Queneau Jean Queval Pierre Rosenstiehl Jacques Roubaud Olivier Salon Albert-Marie Schmidt