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Forum for Modern Language Studies 2004 40(3):291-300; doi:10.1093/fmls/40.3.291
© 2004 by Court of the University of St Andrews
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Numerology and Mathematics in the Writing of Raymond Queneau

Chris Andrews

School of Languages, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia

Raymond Queneau's 1937 article "Technique du roman" does not anticipate the "writing under constraints" advocated by the Oulipo from the 1960s on, since it subordinates pre-formulated numerical rules to a Platonic conception of literary form. Such rules are employed numerologically, to convey meanings, while Queneau's interest in mathematics stimulated the invention of constraints for the Oulipo. This shift recapitulates the purification and specialisation of mathematics, but Queneau's last book, Morale élémentaire, reverses the process, adumbrating a reconciliation of mathematics and numerology.

Key Words: Queneau; Formalism; Mathematics; Numerology


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