PATAPHYSICS-THE-POETICS-OF-AN-IMAGINARY- SCIENCE_C_Bok

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grammatic). The permuting of these variables generates a
formulation, whose Gbdelian reasoning imposes a constraint
upon the potentials of constraint itself: ie. "Jalxiorns are
not governed by axiomsl' (7). The rule 1s that, for every
rule whose structure is reflexive (including this rule), the
swerve of an exception must intervene.
The Exception of Constraint
Oulipo derives its own exceptional formalities f rom the
mathema of "combinatorics"--a discipline that studies what
Berge calls configurations: "[a] configuration arises every
time objects are distributed according to[ ...] constraints"
6
(1 ). Such a science pertains to the optimization of
arrangements within determined parameters. What applies,
for example, to the nomic study of numerals in matrices also
applies to the ludic study of acrostics and rnagic-squares,
crosswordç and j igsaw-puzzles . 7
The f ixed canon of literary
research has often ignored the nomadic anomaly of such
combinatorics on the assumption that to subscribe to
constraint is to indulge in a frivolous aesthetic even
though the formality of such constraint (as seen, for
example, in the lipogram, the rhopalic, etc.) can afford the
study of poetics with the rigor of a science.