Potential literature
Potential literature is the art of creating epic or lyrical works in compliance with certain self-chosen rules.
Works of potential literature
The sentence “No game works without rules” is applied by the representatives of potential literature to literary creation: First, a rule is given, which can be a linguistic or a mathematical requirement. Then the poem or essay is created based on this.
A prototype for this kind of literature are the Hundred Thousand Billion Poems by Raymond Queneau : ten sonnets in which all verses can be combined.
Exemplary works that follow this idea include:
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Georges Perec : La disparition (German: Anton Voyls Fortgang ) - Roman
- rule used: there is not a single word containing the letter e . There is also a monovocal book by Georges Perec with the title Les Revenentes (German: "Dee Weedergenger", translated by Peter Ronge), in which only the e is used as the vowel .
- Klaus Ferentschik : Schwelle und Schwall, Haffmans, Zurich 2000 , ISBN 3-251-00485-9
- Klaus Ferentschik: Scharmützel, Galrev, Berlin 2003 , ISBN 3-933-14932-0
- Rules used: The first part of Schwelle and Schwall contains only feminine nouns , the second part only masculine. The novel Skirmish contains only neuter nouns.
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Gerhard Rühm : The Austrian National Anthem , one step further ( 1986 )
- Rule used: Each word in the original text is replaced by the following word in the Austrian dictionary .
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Ilse Kilic : Oskars Moral , Ritter Verlag 1999.
- Rule used: People may only do or say things for which they only need the vowels contained in their names. If several people meet in a sentence, the vowels of all names apply and the vocabulary of the people is expanded. In another novel by Kilic, entitled Monika's Chaos Protocol (2003), the vowels u and e do not appear.
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Ernst Jandl : ottos pug (1963)
- rule used: only the vowel o is used.
history
In 1960 French writers (among them Raymond Queneau ) founded the Workshop for Potential Literature (Ouvroir de littérature potentialielle, abbreviated Oulipo ) as a loose association in Paris. Representatives of potential literature meet here to exchange ideas and hold readings in the “Auditorium du Forum des Images”. Members are or were, among others, François Le Lionnais , Marcel Duchamp , Claude Berge , Georges Perec , Hervé Le Tellier , Jacques Roubaud , Marcel Bénabou , Harry Matthews , Italo Calvino , Raymond Queneau and Oskar Pastior as the only German-speaking member.
Idea of potential literature
The basic idea of potential literature is to contrast the rules of language with invented, but also rediscovered rules. Rules are used that have been in use for centuries in different contexts.
Only those who play know the resistance of the rule - and the resistance against the rule , Oskar Pastior formulates another motive for working with rules.
Following the model of Oulipo, various “potential” groups have been founded in France, including the group “Ougrapo” (Ouvroir de grammaire potential - workshop for potential grammar) and the group “Oubapo” (Ouvroir de Bandes dessinés potential - workshop for potential people Comics). A workshop for potential graphic design was also founded in Germany under the name “Ougrapo” (Ouvroir du design graphique potentiel).
More works of potential literature
- OULIPO: La littérature potential
- Raymond Queneau: Atlas de littérature potential
- Georg Philipp Harsdörffer : Five-fold Denckring of the German language 1651
Secondary literature
- Klaus Ferentschik: 'Pataphysics - Temptation of the Spirit, Matthes & Seitz Berlin 2006.
- Astrid Poier-Bernhard: Have fun with Haas, Sonderzahl Verlag, Vienna 2003 (work on Oulipo and German-language game and rule texts, sometimes also called ludic literature)
See also
Web links
- http://www.oulipo.net/ OuLiPo (French)
- http://www.literaturhaus.at/buch/buch/rez/ferentschik/ Klaus Frentschik: Schwelle und Schwall - review
- http://www.schreibheft.de/docs/rezensions/klaus-ferentschik.html : Schwelle und Schwall - review