How did Georges Perec use formal constraints in A Void?

In the context of French literature, Georges Perec’s novel A Void (originally published as La Disparition) is a celebrated example of a lipogram—a rigorous formal constraint where the author deliberately avoids using a specific letter of the alphabet.12

In A Void, Perec composed the entire text without the letter "e," the most common letter in the French language. As a member of the Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle (OuLiPo), Perec viewed such demanding, often mathematical constraints as a means to liberate artistic potential rather than restrict it.1234

By mastering this avoidance technique, Perec mobilized the forgotten resources of the language to create a new "e"-less idiom. The constraint serves a dual purpose: it acts as a ludic linguistic game and as a thematic device, where the missing letter functions as a "malediction" or an invisible mark that drives the plot’s series of disappearances and deaths. Ultimately, the novel serves as a demonstration of the expressive possibilities of language, proving that creativity can flourish even under the most stringent self-imposed rules.2