The Adventurous Writer: Taste the Unconventional Flavors of Rule-Breaking
The Oulipo writing movement, which stands for “Ouvroir de littérature potentielle” or “Workshop of Potential Literature,” was founded in 1960 by a group of writers and mathematicians in France.
One of the most famous aspects of Oulipo writing is “constrained writing,” where writers impose restrictions on their work. For example, they may limit themselves to writing without using a particular vowel, follow strict rhyme schemes, or use specific mathematical formulas to determine the structure of their writing.
The Oulipo movement has produced works that not only push the boundaries of traditional literature but also explore the relationship between language, creativity, and constraints. Writers associated with the Oulipo movement include Georges Perec, Raymond Queneau, and Italo Calvino.
The Oulipo movement continues to influence writers and readers by challenging the traditional notions of what literature can be and exploring the potential for creativity within established constraints.
Here are some examples:
N+7: This technique involves replacing every noun in a text with the noun that appears seven entries away in the dictionary. For example, Hamlet’s opening line, “To be or not to be,” could be rewritten as “To bench or not to bench.”
Lipogram: A lipogram is a form of writing in which a particular letter or group of letters is systematically excluded from the text. The most common letter to be excluded in a lipogram is the letter “e,” as it is the most frequently used letter in the English language.
Here is an example of a lipogram poem avoiding the letter “e”:
In a wood, I roam
With soft, rustling paws,
Trudging through soil, flora, rain,
But my hunt finds no victory,
No conclusion to this story,
Only an abyss of longing,
Unfound ambitions, lost hunts,
A solitary wolf, howling at a shadow.
Snowball: In a snowball poem, each line contains one more word than the preceding line. This creates a snowball effect, building the poem line by line.
Snow
falls softly,
covering the grass,
a blanket of white.
Yellow banana
on a bun,
ketchup and mustard drips,
how’s that for some fun?
Palindrome: A palindrome is a word, phrase, or sentence that reads the same forward and backward. For example, “Madam, in Eden, I’m Adam.”
Grid poems: A grid poem is one in which the lines are constructed in a grid format, with the words oriented horizontally and vertically. The grid structure adds an additional layer of constraint to the writing process.
Read each line across in order; don’t worry about the spaces that are not filled. After you’ve read it the usual way, you can take a second look and see what is revealed when it is broken into columns,
| Pease porridge | hot | ||||||
| Pease porridge | cold | ||||||
| Pease porridge | in the pot | ||||||
| nine days old | |||||||
| Some like it | hot | ||||||
| Some like it | cold | ||||||
| Some like it | in the pot | ||||||
| nine days old |
This next one helps demonstrate that lines do not need to contain rhymes:
| We are | troubled on every side, | but not | distressed; | ||
| We are | perplexed, | but not | in despair; | ||
| persecuted, | but not | forsaken; | |||
| cast down, | but not | destroyed. | |||
You can see how words become puzzles. Each constraint challenges your skill and imagination, requiring you to explore new avenues of expression and push beyond the familiar boundaries of conventional writing.
In Oulipo, the structure is not a hindrance but a playground. Constraints are not constraints but pathways to discover new ways of seeing and saying. Through Oulipo, we can break free from tradition and conformity, forging new paths of literary exploration.
Enjoy!
PR
