The OULIPO
Whatever am I doing—bringing a blend of math and poetry to the bar? I, who carry a calculator in my golf bag! Really, I do. But in scanning the Internet for a new poetry form I came across the OULIPO, a form that does precisely that.
Though poetry and mathematics might seem to be incompatible areas of study, the OULIPO connects them. Founded in 1960 by French mathematician Francois de Lionnais and writer Raymond Queneau, Ouvroir de Litterature Potentielle (OULIPO), or Workshop of Potential Literature, investigates the possibilities of verse written using a structural formula. The creators felt that there was potential to be discovered in poetry written within a framework or formula and that, done playfully, the outcomes could be endless.
One of the most popular OULIPO formulas is “N+7.” The writer takes a poem already in existence and substitutes each of the poem’s nouns with the noun appearing seven nouns away in the dictionary. A derivative of the original or a noun that shares similar root doesn’t count. It needs to be a completely different word. I see the potential for a few good laughs and/or some really creative experimental poems.
For today’s prompt, I invite you to choose one of your own poems, write a new one or even choose one in the public domain, grab a dictionary and have at it. (Results could differ depending on the dictionary you use. For those of you left brained (read “More balanced than I”) poets, I invite you to create your own math-based form. If you do, please share your formula. If the poem you chose isn’t too long, feel free to include the original poem or post a Link to the original.
If you would like to join us, but are not sure how to link up—here’s the drill:
Write your poem;
• Post it on your blog or website;
• Click on Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post and enter your name and the direct URL of your post.
• Come to the pub and visit other poets’ work. Take time to comment, please.
• While you’re at it, enjoy the process.
• It would be stellar if you could invite a poet who doesn’t visit the pub on a regular basis to join us…put it out there on your social media sites.
For dVerse Meeting the Bar, this is Victoria—dictionary in hand. 10 fingers, no calculator.
Welcome, all. Today the Pub is inviting poetry to entertain math. I suspect we will enter the world of the absurd and experimental with the results. I hope you have packed you sense of humor and a bit of whimsy. Let’s go!
Yes indeed quite absurd … 🙂 love it so far.
It’s fun. Can’t wait to read.
hey it is good to give math a bit of entertainment… smiles
though honestly – there is a kind of math – those really long equations with x – i loved them – and i always found them really fascinating and exciting… i’m just not very good at it… smiles
that is a fun prompt victoria… and honestly, i stumbled upon words i never heard before and that i never would’ve used in a poem probably… great fun!!!
Same here.. and I read the dictionary quite a lot.. but there are still so many words to find..
Guess I better keep the dictionary handy, heh?
Ha.. I had a lot of fun with this.. I hope I did count correctly.. I could only use an online dictionary … but yes I think it was close to N+7…
i did only find online dictionaries where you can type in the word but don’t get a proper list – then i remembered my old PONS english-german dictionary that i used in school ages ago…and it was so strange to browse through those pages again… took me back a bit… so much that i messed up the formula… pretty much… smiles
thefreedictionary.com has a list in the bottom where you can scroll for words.
Not easy to count for me either. And I cheated just a tad, but don’t tell anyone.
my lips are sealed… smiles
7 is a little relative sometimes
I used my dog-eared 1969 AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY, weighs like 3 pounds; really enjoyed this prompt, for the word substitutions created nonsense or Flarf poetics that really rattle the cranium, & tickle the funnybone. I flipped a coin whether to go with a Leonard Cohen piece, or the Beatles; the Beatles won the toss.
I love that world: Flarf! Flarf, flarf, flarf!!!
I won’t have time to take part in this prompt, but will try to visit as many as I can. It’s a shame, because I really believe there is a connection between the mathematical brain, the poetic brain and the musical brain…
music is pretty mathematical… there surely is a connection…
I have to agree. Sorry you won’t make it, Marina Sofia, but I so understand as I’ve been having to be MIA for awhile, too.
I found my dictionary and a little time to use it. It’s been a long time since I’ve bothered with one – it was like finding an old friend. There are many things online services take out of your life – like using your brain and your old fashioned methods of research. Mine is a little bland…but it worked out ok. Looking forward to others.
smiles… i took my old one from school…and it was a bit like meeting an old friend again as well… though i remember we did long translations from english to german and i found it so cumbersome to browse those dictionary pages for every single word i didn’t know… and there were many…. oy
I have a huge dictionary, probably early 20th Century, in the desert. It’s so big I have to put it on a table to use it. But you can get lost in it. It was my parents and my dad always had it next to his chair.
Love those stories!
Well we had a MAJOR storm here today with over 80 mph winds. I was offline for a while. My new garden house was lifted up in the air, hit the roof, the sliding glass door, blew sideways first, knocked out the glass in my dining room bay window, and was threatening my glass storm back door. I stood outside for twenty minutes trying to anchor it down as it poured rain, hailed and the winds blew. (Clearly I’m half crazy. I had no idea 80 year old trees were snapping in two in nearby yards!) Anywayyyy, that’s why I haven’t been by to read. We’re still cleaning up. I have a glass man coming tomorrow, the handiman to see if we can salvage the garden house, and then have a doctor’s appointment (oh yeah, we’re dealing with the Ebola crisis too as one of Ron’s doctors is attached to that hospital…ugh!)
Wow, Gay–scary times for you there in Texas, heh? Be safe. The whole Ebola thing is so awful.
holy cow gay….you are lucky you were not hurt….
oy, my kids at school are scared of ebola…we talked about it in math today…
Ohh! This is fun. I just moved to a new city and apartment and haven’t finished unpacking all my books. SO I had to make an effort to find a dictionary. It was fun! Worth the effort… smiles
Good luck with your move, Adriana. And glad you had fun with it.
Thank you, Victoria.
I have always been a huge fan of Ouvroir de littérature potentielle, and the work it generates. I used to be quite obsessed with “the workshop of potential literature,” and was glad to be reminded of it by today’s prompt.
ha. sorry i am late v…i took something relatively easy and made it hard…i was trying to do a polynomial factoring poem…sounds sick huh…lol…i worked on it for 2 days trying to get it to work…i am cropping back to punt for now with a simple oulipo and then i will see if by OLN i cant get this to work…ha…sickness.
It’s a good thing polynominal factoring isn’t contagious…or is it. Dear Lord, this math thing is scaring me. Glad to have you in, Brian.
This is a fascinating prompt, Victoria. I admire those of you who attempted it. I did my own mathematical poem…just for the fun of it.
Your poem was so fun, Mary. It made more sense than N + 7!
Hi Victoria, as I mentioned on Björn’s blog, I have been reminded that there are many words in the dictionary we hardly use or even come across.
Isn’t that the truth…but it’s fun to learn new words.
good morning…catching up… we have a bank holiday over here in germany…the day of german unity… but as i work in switzerland… no sleeping in for me…sigh
Have a happy day!
A fun prompt Victoria..greatly enjoyed 🙂
Glad you enjoyed
Well, I certainly became better acquainted with my dictionary 🙂 Thanks for the education, Victoria, and the fun.
You’re welcome!
I am not sure I could write with my own maths-based form but I might come up with something about number.
Well, I doubt that it is anything approximating maths based in style but I had fun with it all the same.
That’s what counts.
Good morning–off to read what I can before the dogs wake up and decide they’re hungry.
Victoria, this was a great exercise. I’ve been writing and nothing jelling..but I’m too late to link 😦 oh well, it was fun! 🙂
Thanks, Sara. I’ll check your blog.