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| From http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?m=201507 |
A. Constrained writing and chance variations
In the previous lesson, we saw how the conception of Chance required a certain dual play where one aspect is kept as a constant. It appears that Chance and Repetition go hand in hand for either to be perceptible at all. Even the most radical of Chance practitioners would need a baseline. This feature where a certain process adheres to a core or a seed as a parameter of composition is something we find in ''procedure'' writing or the use of constraints in art other than the usually or traditionally known ones (like meter or grammar). If you look for OULIPO in Wikipedia, this group is an example of procedural writers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulipo). In other words, the composition as a whole process is seen as the interplay of constraints and anti-constraints.
If you recall your Permutation Notebook, you will probably notice how you still used a seed text as a baseline that the online text generator (mutilator) requires for it to work at all. This generator is also an algorithm or a programming code that was rigorously written (else it will be too buggy or won't work as designed).
As defined in Wikipedia, "Constrained writing is a literary technique in which the
writer is bound by some condition that forbids certain things or imposes a
pattern" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constrained_writing).
An example of constraint writing is the use of LIPOGRAM. A lipogram is "a kind of constrained writing or word game consisting of
writing paragraphs or longer works in which a particular letter or group of
letters is avoided—usually a common vowel, and frequently E, the most common
letter in the English language" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipogram). An example from Wikipedia is below:
Original
Mary had a little lamb
Its fleece was white as snow
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go
He followed her to school one day
That was against the rule
It made the children laugh and play
To see the lamb in school
Without "S":
Mary had a little lamb
With fleece a pale white hue
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb kept her in view
To academe he went with her,
Illegal, and quite rare;
It made the children laugh and play
To view the lamb in there
Without "A":
Polly owned one little sheep
Its fleece shone white like snow
Every region where Polly went
The sheep did surely go
He followed her to school one time
Which broke the rigid rule
The children frolicked in their room
To see the sheep in school
As you can see, this is no different from the funny game we play when we speak only using E as vowel for all words. You can easily find a number of references and samples for constraint writing all over the net. Sites like http://mentalfloss.com/article/88172/8-extraordinary-examples-constrained-writing, or another like http://www.emptymirrorbooks.com/publishing/7-examples-of-constrained-writing.html are just two examples. In theory, there may be an unlimited number of possible constraints and combinations, in the same manner that someone like Raymond Queneau can create a piece called "A Hundred Thousand Billion Poems"! (And, yes, it exists. Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Thousand_Billion_Poems.)
The most famous example of a composition in constraints is, of course, none other than "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." It is called a PANGRAM. Look it up here if you're interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangram.
Procedural techniques are not confined to small works. Many writers have written novels around some constraints. Georg Perec, for example, wrote a novel entitled La disparition without the letter E. Thus, its translation has an option of omitting that missing thing or drop A or I or U, as in Vanishing Point or It's Missing (''The Disappearance'' uses E).
Procedural techniques are not confined to small works. Many writers have written novels around some constraints. Georg Perec, for example, wrote a novel entitled La disparition without the letter E. Thus, its translation has an option of omitting that missing thing or drop A or I or U, as in Vanishing Point or It's Missing (''The Disappearance'' uses E).
B. The Six-Word Memoir
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| From http://www.smithmag.net/ |
The Six-word memoir is a type of constraint writing whose alleged famous predecessor was Ernest Hemingway, the renowned American novelist and short story writer. "Taking a cue from novelist Ernest Hemingway, who, according
to literary legend, was once challenged to write a short story in only six
words, Smith Magazine [who founded the Six-word memoir project in 2006] set out to do the same. Hemingway's six-word story
read: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
Here is an example where the Six-word memoir is cross-bred with Word-cloud tech:
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| From
http://rapidcityjournal.com/lifestyles/readers-tell-unique-story-with-six-word- memoirs/article_028ce167-bf87-5c82-9006-6457424f9c94.html |
C. Things That Go Faster Than Type
Read the poem below for next class discussion.
Things that go faster than light
Things that go faster than light
Jackson MacLow, 1960
Things that go faster than light
To however. It nothing go surprised
To however, and to
Go out
Faster and surprised to. Eventually, rotated
To however, and nothing
Long. It go however, to
The hits is, namely, granting speed
The hits at the
Granting oscilloscope
Far at speed the electron rigid
The hits at namely,
Length is granting hits the
Transmitted horizon in not gone succession
Transmitted horizon a transmitted
Gone ocean.
Form a succession transmitted equal rule
Transmitted horizon a not
Large in gone horizon transmitted
Than hand, interval never group shuttling
Than hand, arrows, than
Group or
Frequency arrows, shuttling than effectively radiation.
Than hand, arrows, nearer
Light, interval group hand, than
That high ionosphere number guide. Shift,
That high amount that
Guide. On
Followed amount shift, effects represent
That high amount number
Lies ionosphere guide. High that
Guide questions:
1. What do you think of the grammar of this text? How many complete sentences can you spot?
2. This highly idiosyncratic text seems to be not following verse rules nor good grammar rules. Is there a procedure or constraint that Mac Low employed here? Any pattern or baseline you can notice?
3. Clue: the first stanza has seven lines, while the rest have only six. Why is that so?
4. When something moves faster than light, what does this mean in astrophysics? How do we relate it to Mac Low's idea of writing? Are there really "things" that can do this?
5. Which part is determined, and which is "random?"
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