G is for ... GRAMMATICAL TRANSLATION

Tweet

So today is the 8th of April, which must mean that it's the seventh day of the A to Z challenge.  I've decided to share my love of writing through this challenge, and hopefully introduce people to the world of Oulipo.  I first heard about Oulipo when I was at university, and I was fascinated by their approach to writing that I decided to delve deeper into the world of experimental writing.

In a nutshell, this group of writers likes to assign constraints to their work in order to push creative boundaries.  Not only is this fun to do (the process of writing something with a constraint really does open the mind), the results are brilliant.



*****

G is for ... GRAMMATICAL TRANSLATION

"By altering various aspects of grammar, a chosen text can be given a markedly different colouring." 

Oulipo Compendium ed. Harry Matthews & Alastiar Brotchie (London: Atlas Press, 2005) page 154.

*****

So not only can you change the tense of the verbs, you can alter the nouns, adjectives, adverbs, or whatever other grammatical elements you wish.  Either choose a well known text, or try this with one of your own pieces.

The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more."

**

Once upon a midday bright, while I pondered strong and lively,

Over scarce a usual and normal volume of remembered lore,

While I nodded, nearly waking, expectantly there came a tapping,

As of some one abruptly rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

"'Tis some visitor," I yelled, "tapping at my chamber door - 

Only this, and something more."

*****

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

**

I could have wandered lonely as a cloud

That might have floated on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I could have seen a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Possibly fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

*****

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? 

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date: 

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; 

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou growest: 

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

**

I won't compare you to a summer's day.

Thou aren't more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds don't shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease doesn't have all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven doesn't shine,

And often his gold complexion isn't dimm'd;

And every fair from fair never declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall fade

And lose possession of that fair thou owest;

And Death shall brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou don't growest:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this and gives life to thee.

*****

Hmm, maybe working with Shakespeare isn't the easiest thing to do, but it is interesting to see how something turns out if you change the tense or tone.