Simple, difficult, spectacular
Georges Perec, in the “History of the Lipogram” makes an important point about lipograms, but which could apply to many constraints:
…the principle of the lipogram is childishly simple;
its application can prove to be excessively difficult;
its result is not necessarily spectacular. (99, Motte trans.)
Which leads us to:
1. A good constraint is not necessarily a complex constraint, but a complex constraint can still be a good constraint. Perec has perhaps proved this between his La Disparition, a “simple” constraint, and La Vie: mode d’emploi, a multi-layered constraint that involves a number of rather complex constraints.
2. Even a constraint that is simple in theory can be difficult in practice. As a corollary, I would say that a constraint is not of interest just because of the difficulty of its execution. While the execution of an exceedingly difficult constraint can be an end in itself, that does not mean that through a simply executed constraint one can’t generate a complex and worthy work.
3. By advocating the use of constraint, no one (that I know of) is saying that the works created will be spectacular. In fact, many are novelties of passing interest or no interest at all beyond the constraint itself, but a number are also works that maintain an interest and could be considered above average (or even great) works of literature. The number of constrained works is extremely limited at this point in time, yet the number of excellent works is perhaps higher in proportion than the unconstrained.
References:
Perec, Georges. “Histoire du lipogramme”. Lipo, 73-89. Trans. as “History of the Lipogram” in Motte, 97-108.
Tags: Constraint
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