Journal of Romance Studies

Georges Perec: distributive constraints, textual liberties

Journal of Romance Studies (2007), 7, (3), 59–74.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3828/jrs.7.3.59
Language
English
Pages
16

Abstract

Mathematics, central to the work of the Oulipo writers in general, provides a particularly rich resource for Georges Perec in his search to create forms which forge order out of disorder. His texts invoke rules, distributive constraints and textual regularities in various ways to outsmart language constantly and to experiment with all kinds of limits within the literary work. ‘Palindromes’, ‘heterograms’, ‘lipograms’ are some of those radical experiments on the possibilities inherent to an idiom that Perec performed as texts and poems. Constraints have their own style: those worked out by Perec all seem to derive from a fragmentation to be redeemed and extracted from the loss of all meaning at the heart of the language. Among the oulipian works, La Vie mode d’emploi represents the most accomplished example of the tension between highly complex protocols of calculation and the artwork as a struggle with chance, fragmentation and oblivion.

Access Token

FormatArticle

£25.00
READ THIS ARTICLE
References
Full Text
PDF
If you have private access to this content, please log in with your username and password here

Baudelaire, Charles (1965) ‘The Salon of 1859’, in Art in Paris 1845–1862, trans. Jonathan Mayne (London: Phaidon Press). The Salon of 1859 Art in Paris 1845–1862 Google Scholar

Baudelaire, Charles (1976) ‘Salon de 1859’, in Œuvres complètes II (Paris: Gallimard). Salon de 1859 Œuvres complètes II Google Scholar

Cahiers Georges Perec 5 (1992) (Paris: Éditions du Limon). Google Scholar

Gervais, André (1990) ‘PE R EC / W HIT E: TROMPE L ŒIL / Le tour de l’angrais et le retour du temps’, in Georges Perec, écrire/transformer, special number, Études littéraires 23.1–2, 169–83. PE R EC / W HIT E: TROMPE L ŒIL / Le tour de l Georges Perec, écrire/transformer, special number, Études littéraires 23.1–2 169 83 Google Scholar

Magné, Bernard (1989) Perecollages (Toulouse: Presses Universtaires du Mirail). Perecollages Google Scholar

OULIPO (1973) La Littérature potentielle (Paris: Idées/Gallimard). La Littérature potentielle Google Scholar

Perec, Georges (1969) La Disparition (Paris: Denoël). La Disparition Google Scholar

Perec, Georges (1974) Espèce d’espaces (Paris: Galilée) Espèce d’espaces Google Scholar

Perec, Georges (1978) La Vie mode d’emploi (Paris: Hachette) La Vie mode d’emploi Google Scholar

Perec, Georges (1981) ‘Ulcérations’, in Atlas de littérature potentielle (Paris: Gallimard), 337. Ulcérations Atlas de littérature potentielle 337 Google Scholar

Perec, Georges (1993) Le Cahier des charges de La Vie mode d’emploi, presented, transcribed and annotated by Hans Hartje, Bernard Magné and Jacques Neefs (Paris and Cadeilhan: CNRS Éditions and Zulma). Le Cahier des charges de Google Scholar

Perec, Georges (1996) Life: A User’s Manual, trans. David Bellos (London: The Harvill Press). Life: A User’s Manual Google Scholar

Perec, Georges (1997) Species of Spaces and Other Pieces, trans. John Sturrock (London: Penguin Books). Species of Spaces and Other Pieces Google Scholar

Perec, Georges (2003a) ‘Georges Perec ou les coulisses de l’exploit linguistique’, in Entretiens et conférences I (Nantes: Joseph K.), 142–3. Georges Perec ou les coulisses de l’exploit linguistique 142 3 Google Scholar

Perec, Georges (2003b) ‘La maison des romans’, in Entretiens et conférences I (Nantes: Joseph K.), 236–44. La maison des romans 236 44 Google Scholar

Perec, Georges (2005) A Void, trans. Gilbert Adair (Boston: David R. Godine). A Void Google Scholar

Queneau, Raymond (1973) ‘Qu’est-ce que l’art?’, in Le Voyage en Grèce (Paris: Gallimard), 89–96. Qu’est-ce que l’art? Le Voyage en Grèce 89 96 Google Scholar

Roubaud, Jacques (1990) ‘Notes sur la poétique des listes chez Georges Perec’, in Penser, classer, écrire: de Pascal à Perec (Saint-Denis: Presses Universitaires de Vincennes), 201–8. Notes sur la poétique des listes chez Georges Perec Penser, classer, écrire: de Pascal à Perec 201 8 Google Scholar

If you have private access to this content, please log in with your username and password here

Details

Author details

Neefs, Jacques