J is for ... J'AI OUBLIE

Tweet

So today is the 11th of April, which must mean that it's the tenth 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.



*****

J is for ... J'AI OUBLIE

"The author presents a series of statements all beginning with the words 'J'ai oublié...', in overt reference to Georges Perec's Je me souviens (I remember).  In his introduction, he points out that forgetfulness only exists in a context of memory: noticing what one has forgotten - for instance, the name of a first piano teacher - implies the rememberance of other piano teachers and their names.  'Searching for what one has forgotten means ferreting out the hollows, voids, and absences of an otherwise healthy memory.'  So each item in the series of forgetting is appropriately accompanied by the mention of something the author also remembers about the fact or incident evoked." 

Oulipo Compendium ed. Harry Matthews & Alastiar Brotchie (London: Atlas Press, 2005) page 108 & 109.

*****

It's quite difficult to write about things you've forgotten, but here goes...

I've forgotten my last day at school (but I can remember my first day at school).

I've forgotten the names of most of my high school teachers (but I can remember most of their faces).

I've forgotten how old I was when I got my first CD (but I can remember that it was 'Up All Night' by East 17).

I've forgotten the name of my driving instructor (but I can remember that he used to have boxes of maggots on the back seat of his car).

I've forgotten the first film at the cinema I ever saw (but I can remember that it was at the cinema at Sparrow's Nest in Lowestoft).

I've forgotten most of my dreams (but I can remember most of my nightmares).

I've forgotten the date of my first date (but I can remember who it was with, where we went, and what I wore).

*****

I guess my memory is better than I thought!