Manifestos 1 & 2 and A Void

Learning about the Oulipo has been truly fascinating and there is no better way to learn about a group than to read the manifestos of its leader. As I read the First Manifesto, I was struck by Francois Le Lionnais' tone. He has such a commanding voice that the First Manifesto could easily be a call to rise up against an unjust government. But I think that is how important innovative writing is to the Oulipo, they feel oppressed by the reigning traditional style. When you think of how quickly the world seems to be changing these days, you never think of how greatly literature has changed. Sure, language itself has changed a bit. Shakespeare's Elizabethan english is a bit tricky at times, but his style is still used today and is not completely foreign to a well read person today. The Oulipo have it right, Literature needs an overhaul. Francois Le Lionnais stresses that creativity comes from challenges, constraints. This makes perfect sense. The traditional is comfortable and unless we force ourselves to write differently we will inherently do what feels normal and never grow. A Void is an example of how the Oulipo have taken a constraint and used it as a tool to create a new unique way of communicating an author's message.