Decoding the Oulipo

The Oulipo was a group of French writers in the 1960's who created all sorts of "potential" pieces of literature. Essentially these were single lines that could be put together with other lines to create literary works. It is a fascinating concept, similar to that of the hypertext novel, or even some new computer games such as Little Big Planet. I say this because essentially, all of the "code" is there on the page, and it is up to the user to put it together into a cohesive piece. This also relates back to the cut-up method, in which people take fully developed pieces of writing or music and cut them up to create new versions. The theory behind the Oulipo is essentially the opposite, where people have bits and pieces that have not really been put into a coherent piece of work, and it is their responsibility to do so.