Cantr II Discussion Forum

Today I attended a lecture by Paul Fournel (a French author) about Oulipo, the contemporary literature movement he is part of. OuLiPo stands for Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle, which translates to "Workshop of potential literature". Despite the French name, authors and theoreticians from different countries are part of this. You can find some information about Oulipo at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulipo . Basically, they are trying to create literature under constraints that the authors choose themselves - much like an author may choose to write a sonnett (famous kind of poem that has a lot of rules), an author might also choose to write something without a certain common letter (in the lecture we heard a French poem that didn't use any vowels except A), with a certain movement, a pre-set rotation, a pre-set list of words or even a pre-set time/location/way of writing. Rather than hinder literary production, I found that a restraint can be very helpful when you lack inspiration for writing. Also, it might make you use words that you would otherwise ignore.

Paul Fournel did an experiment with the class: he asked a couple of students for their favourite French words and then we all had to quickly write something using those words, in the order they were given. Apart from proving that restraints are a help rather than a hindrance to writing, this experiment was also a lot of fun and that's why I'd like to propose it to anybody interested here: quickly write a short story, a poem or a few thoughts using the words from the list below and use them in the given order. It doesn't matter whether you put 1 or 50 words in between the words from the list, just use them all and in the right order.

Here's the list of words, taken at random from IG Cantr so that you may write about Cantr if you like - you don't have to though. You can even write something that is surreal or doesn't seem to make sense - Oulipo worries about form first and sense later
observe
employer
brand new
way
church
criminal
come
smile
bike
suppose

You may use different word forms, such as "observes" or "observed" instead of "observe".

You can post your result here but you don't have to. However, I strongly recommend not looking at the others' writings before you have written your own, so that you are not influenced.

Have fun!

Alright, I'll have a go.

I observed the employer carefully, but in the end, it was just not the right job. Sure, a brand new car was a fine perk and all, but picking up zoo animal manure didn't seem like the way to go.

It had been a five days since then, and still no job. That meant I was going to church (right after watching Pee Wee's Great Adventure of course! Praying usually help in these situations, and I do love that communion. Sometimes I go back in line just to get two pieces of the bread, but I feel like a criminal afterwards, and confess later.

It was the time we were all silent, and was just about to start my prayer when an epiphany came to me! I jumped right out of the pew, with a huge smile on my face, and I strided right out of the church without even noticing the huge disturbance I made. I was just about to head home, when I realized something. Someone stole my bike!

I sighed, but I wasn't completely distraught, "I suppose I have narrowed it down a bit, it won't be in the basement of the Alamo!"





Oh boy...

If this list was alphabetical then employer really comes before observe, but as you can see employer follows observe, and both observe and employer come after brand new when really brand new should come before both of them. Way is fine where it is but then between brand new and employer one would normally find the word church . Here it comes after way . The next two words correctly come after church , but are still in the wrong order , criminal should be the second of the two and employer after that. Way is still there at the end , just after the next word smile , which I was doing until I then saw bike which should have been a lot earlier in the list , right at the beginning before brand new. But that's alphabetical lists I suppose.

I Am The Guard

Observing the town square, as usual... The factory serfs are getting a pep talk by their employer, while working on our brand new carrot harvester. She's boasting how their firm on it's way to success.
There's been talk of building up a church here. They say it might boost the morale, though we haven't had much trouble lately. There are no criminals, save a couple of distracted newspawns every now and then. Sometimes a traveller would come by, trading this and that.
It lightens my day hearing a simple hello, how are you? seeing a pretty girl flash a smile at me. The boss said I might have my own bike to patrol the area, once the resource runners come back. I suppose many people would be thrilled to live in a town like this... But sometimes, when everyone is silent, asleep, I start to dream, wishing I was somewhere far away.

I'm going to attempt for the shortest possible...

observe the employer with the brand new pair of wire cutters on the way to church. She is a criminal who has come with a smile looking to steal a bike I would suppose

Observation
That’s what my employer told me to do, if only he would do it more often himself.
Observation
I am brand new here, and this is the way I’m supposed to learn what to do?
Observation
The man is so blind, he hired me because I live next to the church he goes to and I “seem like a nice guy.”
Observation
My criminal record is so easy to find too, I practically come with a sign saying don’t hire me.
Observation
He probably thinks I come with nothing more than a smile and my bike everyday, but I come with a past.
Observation
I suppose he could already know it all, and just be giving me a chance to live a new life.
Observation
In any case, he is the only person I’ve seen who seems to care about me.

Could you list the original French words your class used?

notsure

We used: amour, arbre, invraisemblablement, table, bouteille, armoire, énigme, rouge . These were random suggestions from the auditorium before anybody knew what we'd be asked to do. See my French journal entry regarding this lesson at http://realjunesun.livejournal.com/ if you like - you'll also find what I wrote with those words there.