Abstract

In their brief online presentation "Qu'est-ce que l'Oulipo?", Jacques Roubaud and Marcel Bénabou explain how Oulipians proceed in the exploration of the lipo, littérature potentielle: "Certes, MAIS COMMENT?", they ask, before replying: "En inventant des contraintes. Des contraintes nouvelles et anciennes, difficiles et moins diiffficiles et trop diiffiiciiiles. La Littérature Oulipienne est une LITTÉRATURE SOUS CONTRAINTES." The vigorous tone conveyed by spelling and typography points to the distinct challenge posed by Oulipian writing, which relies on the difficulty of the constraint in its effort to reach as far as possible into the uncharted territory of potential literature....