The since cancelled The nOulipian Analects is a book based on the conference nOulipo held at REDCAT in Los Angeles.
Christian Bök proposes six ‘axioms’ that form a loose definition of the Oulipian concept of constraint. These axioms are used as the rationale behind the design of the book.
1. It must be simple.
2. It must be difficult to execute.
3. It should reference its own existence.
4. It should exhaust all possibilities.
5. It should be as distanced as possible from any chance operations.
6. It must allow for one ‘anti-constraint’, a deviation that breaks the rules.
