L’Oulipo ou la Nouvelle Vague du Classicisme

Abstract

The Oulipo establishes a new relationship with Antiquity, one which submits to a reevaluation and not to a process of destruction: by means of an analytic tendency, the Oulipo relives forgotten works or rereads the literature so dear to Classical tradition. With regards to its relationship with contemporary avant-garde, the Oulipo, which upholds the idea of a voluntary literature, opposes Surrealism, but shares with Tel Quel the playful notion of literature and the intent of reevaluating text as a practice founded on an handcrafted perception of a writer’s creation. The Oulipo’s answer to Nineteenthcentury Realism’s desire to break from narrative conventions animating Tel Quel and the Nouveau Roman is replaced by a new approach of perceived reality in its numerous and continuous transformations.