The N+7 procedure, invented by Jean Lescure of Oulipo, involves replacing each noun in a text with the seventh one following it in a dictionary.The link just above will take you to a n+7 generator into which you can insert a text, and it will produce 15 new texts using the n+7 procedure. N+1 replaces each noun with the first one following it in a dictionary, n+2 replaces each with the second preceding noun, and so on.
The text I've experimented with is W.B. Yeats's little poem, "Memory," which I like a whole lot. Here it is as Yeats wrote it (n+0):
One had a lovely face,
And two or three had charm,
But charm and face were in vain
Because the mountain grass
Cannot but keep the form
Where the mountain hare has lain.And here it is at n+1:
One had a lovely facet,
And two or three had charmer,
But charmer and facet were in vain
Because the mountaineer grasshopper
Cannot but keep the formality
Where the mountaineer harelip has lain.Not great. Not really even very good. Here's n+2:
One had a lovely facial,
And two or three had chart,
But chart and facial were in vain
Because the mountainside grassland
Cannot but keep the format
Where the mountainside harem has lain.This one is a little better. It turned kind of sexual, which is interesting. Let's skip to n+7, where I think things start to get really cool:
One had a lovely faction,
And two or three had chasm,
But chasm and faction were in vain
Because the moustache grave
Cannot but keep the forte
Where the moustache harmonic has lain.What a great opening couple of lines! And "moustache grave" and "moustache harmonic"?! Priceless. N+9 gets a little industrial:
One had a lovely factory,
And two or three had chateau,
But chateau and factory were in vain
Because the mouthful gravel
Cannot but keep the fortnight
Where the mouthful harmony has lain.Some uglier words pop up in n+13:
One had a lovely fag,
And two or three had chatterer,
But chatterer and fag were in vain
Because the mover gravy
Cannot but keep the forum
Where the mover harpoon has lain.And reassert themselves in n+14:
One had a lovely faggot,
And two or three had chauffeur,
But chauffeur and faggot were in vain
Because the movie graze
Cannot but keep the fossil
Where the movie harpsichord has lain.And, finally, n+15 brings it all home:
One had a lovely failing,
And two or three had cheap,
But cheap and failing were in vain
Because the moviegoer grease
Cannot but keep the foul
Where the moviegoer harpy has lain.I like the first three lines of this last one, but, besides the original (n+0), I would say n+7 is my favorite. What a fun way to mess with text, make stuff, waste time, whatever. All literature is "potential literature," and it's fun to explore those potentials.
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