Oulipo founded (24/11/1960)

[Ross Clark]

OUvroir de LIttératire POtentielle (Workshop of Potential Literature)
"a group of mainly French writers who created experimental works using
techniques of constrained writing"

Examples of constraints:
- using only words extracted from a previously existing text [as in _A
Humument_]
https://www.tomphillips.co.uk/humument
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Humument
- a technological length constraint [Twitterature]

- avoidance -- writing a work that does not contain a particular letter
(lipogram) or punctuation mark or part of speech
_Gadsby_ by Ernest Wright, uses no <e>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsby_(novel)
_La Disparition_ by Georges Perec likewise
(Perec is the only one of the Oulipo group Crystal names)

- or insistence -- every word must contain a particular letter...etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulipo

I guess the -lipo in Oulipo was probably a deliberate link to the lipo-
in lipogram (which goes back to the 18th century), from Greek leipein
'to leave out, to be missing'.

"Ouvroir" is a pretty obscure word. (A "writer's workshop" would, I
think, normally be called an "atelier" in French.) Petit Larousse says

Ouvroir (n.m.) Etablissement de bienfaisance où des jeunes filles et des
femmes se livrent en commun à des travaux de lingerie; dans les
communautés de femmes, lieu où les religieuses s'assemblent pour
travailler.

Sounds a bit like the Magdalen Laundries, or a workhouse for indigent
females.

Any special reason why they would choose that? (All those named in the
Wiki article were men. They did, however, have some connection with
Pataphysics -- which we won't get into here.)

[HenHanna]

Post by Ross Clark
OUvroir de LIttératire POtentielle (Workshop of Potential Literature)
"a group of mainly French writers who created experimental works using
techniques of constrained writing"
- using only words extracted from a previously existing text [as in _A
Humument_]
https://www.tomphillips.co.uk/humument
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Humument
- a technological length constraint [Twitterature]
- avoidance -- writing a work that does not contain a particular letter
(lipogram) or punctuation mark or part of speech
_Gadsby_ by Ernest Wright, uses no <e>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsby_(novel)
_La Disparition_ by Georges Perec likewise
(Perec is the only one of the Oulipo group Crystal names)
- or insistence -- every word must contain a particular letter...etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulipo
I guess the -lipo in Oulipo was probably a deliberate link to the lipo-
in lipogram (which goes back to the 18th century), from Greek leipein
'to leave out, to be missing'.
"Ouvroir" is a pretty obscure word. (A "writer's workshop" would, I
think, normally be called an "atelier" in French.) Petit Larousse says
Ouvroir (n.m.) Etablissement de bienfaisance où des jeunes filles et des
femmes se livrent en commun à des travaux de lingerie; dans les
communautés de femmes, lieu où les religieuses s'assemblent pour
travailler.
Sounds a bit like the Magdalen Laundries, or a workhouse for indigent
females.
Any special reason why they would choose that? (All those named in the
Wiki article were men. They did, however, have some connection with
Pataphysics -- which we won't get into here.)

Maybe because i know so few French verbs...
the name Oulipo always reminds me of this verb.

Il est facile d'oublier les détails.
J'oublie souvent mes clés.
N'oublie pas de me rappeler.




https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ouvroir = workroom, sewing room

[sewing room] (maybe influenced by what you said)
made me think of that awful fire in NYC

Verbs ouvrer, oeuvrer related?

Post by Ross Clark

Doublet of œuvrer (an analogical form created to

avoid the confusion with ouvrir) and opérer.

____________________

Ouvrer: This verb means "to work" or "to operate" and is often used in a
more general sense, sometimes referring to manual labor or functioning.

Œuvrer: This verb means "to work" in the sense of creating or producing,
particularly in an artistic or constructive context. It is associated
with the noun "œuvre," which refers to a body of work.


i see... they avoided Œuvrer out of a conceited mindset
common among the Artsy types.