The OuLiPo Group

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Natalie Berkman (Princeton University)

Ed. by Hugo Azerad, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.07: French Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kate Averis (University of Western Australia), Hugo Azerad (University of Cambridge), Patrick ffrench (King's College London), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Akane Kawakami (Birkbeck, University of London), Siobhán McIlvanney (King's College London), Sinan Richards (King's College London), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Domains

Literature Topic
Movements, styles and periods (literature)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1960-

Places

France (Location)

Resources

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The Name

The OuLiPo (Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle) was founded by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais in 1960. The name is an acronym, generally loosely translated into English as “Workshop of Potential Literature”. Looking at each French term individually reveals subtle indications about the group and its goals. Ouvroir is an archaic word that has been mostly eliminated from contemporary French. Etymologically related to ouvrer or the verb “to work” and œuvre or “a work”, the term has three distinct possible meanings: 1. A place of work, where (within a community of women or a convent) one sews; 2. A workshop (generally confessional) where benevolent individuals sew objects for use in a church or another charitable organization; 3. The group of women who work in

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3067 words

Citation: Berkman, Natalie. "The OuLiPo Group". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 December 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19387, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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