O UL IPO, WOR K SH OP O F POTENTIAL
O U LI PO, WO RK S HO P O F P OT EN TIA L
L IT ER AT U RE
L IT ERATU RE
by Lorraine Cappoccia
by Lorraine Cappoccia
The power of words can be immense and when put together to create a piece of literature, the effects can be immeasurable. As such, the creation of a literary piece and the talents of its creator deserve respect and admiration. Literature can take on many forms, prose or verse as well as a variety of genres such as crime fiction, young adult fiction or science fiction, which are just a very few. Writers often follow rules or guidelines, for example defined by an editor, or possibly in order to complete a piece of work, and sometimes even rules a writer has imposed on themselves. In view of this fact, this assignment will focus on rules and constraints within literature, based on the particular methods adopted by a group known as the Oulipo, who offered new techniques for creating literary works. The Oulipo was a group who followed self-imposed rules or constraints in the hope of creating new material. A brief history of the Oulipo is to follow, as well as a comparison of two novels written with the application of one of the Oulipian rules. The two novels are Oulipian member, Georges Perec’s A Void, originally published in France in 1969 and later translated into English in 1994, and predating Perec and in fact the Oulipo, Ernest Vincent Wright’s Gadsby: A Lipogram Novel, originally written in 1939. The rule will be the use of the technique known as a lipogram. The rule and constraint of a lipogram is to create a piece of work with the omission of a particular letter of the alphabet. On looking at these works, this assignment seeks to find how such an imposed rule and constraint affects the delivery of the work, in parts or as a whole. As an alternative comparison, co-founder of the Oulipo Raymond Queneau’s Exercises in Style (2009) offers a wider ranging example of Oulipian work, in which different rules are applied to one story, which is
The power of words can be immense and when put together to create a piece of literature, the effects can be immeasurable. As such, the creation of a literary piece and the talents of its creator deserve respect and admiration. Literature can take on many forms, prose or verse as well as a variety of genres such as crime fiction, young adult fiction or science fiction, which are just a very few. Writers often follow rules or guidelines, for example defined by an editor, or possibly in order to complete a piece of work, and sometimes even rules a writer has imposed on themselves. In view of this fact, this assignment will focus on rules and constraints within literature, based on the particular methods adopted by a group known as the Oulipo, who offered new techniques for creating literary works. The Oulipo was a group who followed self-imposed rules or constraints in the hope of creating new material. A brief history of the Oulipo is to follow, as well as a comparison of two novels written with the application of one of the Oulipian rules. The two novels are Oulipian member, Georges Perec’s A Void, originally published in France in 1969 and later translated into English in 1994, and predating Perec and in fact the Oulipo, Ernest Vincent Wright’s Gadsby: A Lipogram Novel, originally written in 1939. The rule will be the use of the technique known as a lipogram. The rule and constraint of a lipogram is to create a piece of work with the omission of a particular letter of the alphabet. On looking at these works, this assignment seeks to find how such an imposed rule and constraint affects the delivery of the work, in parts or as a whole. As an alternative comparison, co-founder of the Oulipo Raymond Queneau’s Exercises in Style (2009) offers a wider ranging example of Oulipian work, in which different rules are applied to one story, which is
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O UL IPO, WOR K SH OP O F POTENTIAL
O U LI PO, WO RK S HO P O F P OT EN TIA L
L IT ER AT U RE
L IT ERATU RE
by Lorraine Cappoccia
by Lorraine Cappoccia
The power of words can be immense and when put together to create a piece of literature, the effects can be immeasurable. As such, the creation of a literary piece and the talents of its creator deserve respect and admiration. Literature can take on many forms, prose or verse as well as a variety of genres such as crime fiction, young adult fiction or science fiction, which are just a very few. Writers often follow rules or guidelines, for example defined by an editor, or possibly in order to complete a piece of work, and sometimes even rules a writer has imposed on themselves. In view of this fact, this assignment will focus on rules and constraints within literature, based on the particular methods adopted by a group known as the Oulipo, who offered new techniques for creating literary works. The Oulipo was a group who followed self-imposed rules or constraints in the hope of creating new material. A brief history of the Oulipo is to follow, as well as a comparison of two novels written with the application of one of the Oulipian rules. The two novels are Oulipian member, Georges Perec’s A Void, originally published in France in 1969 and later translated into English in 1994, and predating Perec and in fact the Oulipo, Ernest Vincent Wright’s Gadsby: A Lipogram Novel, originally written in 1939. The rule will be the use of the technique known as a lipogram. The rule and constraint of a lipogram is to create a piece of work with the omission of a particular letter of the alphabet. On looking at these works, this assignment seeks to find how such an imposed rule and constraint affects the delivery of the work, in parts or as a whole. As an alternative comparison, co-founder of the Oulipo Raymond Queneau’s Exercises in Style (2009) offers a wider ranging example of Oulipian work, in which different rules are applied to one story, which is
The power of words can be immense and when put together to create a piece of literature, the effects can be immeasurable. As such, the creation of a literary piece and the talents of its creator deserve respect and admiration. Literature can take on many forms, prose or verse as well as a variety of genres such as crime fiction, young adult fiction or science fiction, which are just a very few. Writers often follow rules or guidelines, for example defined by an editor, or possibly in order to complete a piece of work, and sometimes even rules a writer has imposed on themselves. In view of this fact, this assignment will focus on rules and constraints within literature, based on the particular methods adopted by a group known as the Oulipo, who offered new techniques for creating literary works. The Oulipo was a group who followed self-imposed rules or constraints in the hope of creating new material. A brief history of the Oulipo is to follow, as well as a comparison of two novels written with the application of one of the Oulipian rules. The two novels are Oulipian member, Georges Perec’s A Void, originally published in France in 1969 and later translated into English in 1994, and predating Perec and in fact the Oulipo, Ernest Vincent Wright’s Gadsby: A Lipogram Novel, originally written in 1939. The rule will be the use of the technique known as a lipogram. The rule and constraint of a lipogram is to create a piece of work with the omission of a particular letter of the alphabet. On looking at these works, this assignment seeks to find how such an imposed rule and constraint affects the delivery of the work, in parts or as a whole. As an alternative comparison, co-founder of the Oulipo Raymond Queneau’s Exercises in Style (2009) offers a wider ranging example of Oulipian work, in which different rules are applied to one story, which is
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