/lit/ - Literature

anyone do a linguistic analysis on greentext?

for instance

>be me
>be doing x

seems to be an incorporation of the habitual be from AAVE by a predominantly white board

>>18205364
Doesn't feel like AAVE to me, more deliberately talking like a babby retard, in order to emphasize supposed autism and lack of street smarts, though I suppose it's easy to get the two mixed up.

>>18205394
>defending AAVE as a language while being prescriptivist about the legitimacy of greentext

shame on you hypocrite. Either both are legit or both are not

>>18205394
>thinks he's smart
>doesn't realize he is being talked down to

>implying you can describe the grammatical rules of greentext

>>18205506
>implying you can't

Take this usage for instance

>X year
>still doing Y

or simply
>doing Z

What would you call this linguistic construct where you're expressing criticism of people doing something by merely highlighting the offending action using greentext?

>>18205347
internet culture is shit and should be treated like it

>>18205534
>t. loves scat and hates that he loves it

>>18205484
>>18205504
Based schizo-illiterates.

>>18205364
Greentext is often written in present tense, so "be" makes the most sense to use. ">is me" would sound way more niggerish if you ask me.

>>18205567
nah, just drunk, makes it easy to see anyone on this board who is talking about AAVE to be trying to validate their racism. After a reread of your post, I concur, which is probably obvious since all I did was restate your post in green text.

>>18205595
>he be a pirate

^2134
<still using 1 dimensional monochrome text

>>18205364
IDK never had a AAVE in my head when I read it, and i dont think others do either. especially since AAVE to start with "I be" in most cases. I think its more likely a case of convergent evolution of present tense utilization in non standard form.
if otherwise I would say purely textually, it is more similar to stereotypical pirate talk like>>18205614
>>18205600
I dont think anyone tried to validate there racism here.
There might be racism, but i dont see validation of so far in the thread.

>>18205879
Based schizo-illiterate. Your turn to reread. Didn't say anyone was validating racism in this thread.

>>18205531
I don't know but I often think about this. What exactly are you doing by adding the arrow?

>>18205895
I dont think i was being schizo though, just that i concur on not have seeing any validation here atm.

>>18205347
Are greentext stories any different than stories without > prepended?

>>18205531
>What would you call this linguistic construct where you're expressing criticism of people doing something by merely highlighting the offending action using greentext?
Mockery?

>>18205920
Yah, they have some rather distinct grammatical and vocabular artifacts as well as themes and cultural base.

All gay terms in context of course, but are still accurate

>>18205900
In this context, I would say that you frame what you have quoted, thus drawing attention to it and
>implying
something or other.

>>18205900
It makes no sense without the arrow. The arrow and greentext is short for "why are you still doing x" or "I can't believe this guy is still doing x"

Greentext as an art is dead. If you're using more than 3 words in greentext you're a retard newfag and everybody here is.

Also reddit thread and not /lit/

>>18206078
you know anon, reddit can manefestly become /lit/ over time. that is the insidious thing, isnt it? even what you like slowly mutates in essential quality untill nothing of its orginal is left, like the ship of Theseus.

>>18205364
The way I've thought about is that the 'be me' or whatever at the start sets the person/voice of the story and subsequently the arrow substitutes for that grammatical information to simplify the structure. What you posted would more likely be posted in this structure:

>be me
>going to x

greentext stories are great because they're short and concise. Their brevity makes it perfect for a sort of punch line or twist ending.

the worst greentext stories are the ones that are 10 posts long, and the first two or three posts are just useless background info, and they type out entire conversations as if they actually remembered what was said. Sometimes when I see niggers with these long-winded, pointless greentext stories I can summarize them in one post and they're still dumb and boring.
>>18206186
>be me
is a stupid way to start off a story.

>be me
>or not to be me

>>18205364
It’s just a way to distinguish the particular point of view of the greentext you want to write. Several stories are written from the POV of someone other than the author.

>>18206219
>be me
is a genious way to start off a story
>you are going into first person now. no buts

>>18205347
>memes are dead
>and we have killed them

>>18205929
It's almost mimicry.

>>18206313

>>18205895
>ARRGGH RACE RACE RACE

People are talking about language and you bring up racism out of nowhere. Can you stop thinking about everything through the lens of race for one second idpoltard?

>>18206400
>pic
Fractal Stonetoss lmao now I've seen everything.

>>18206415
what an exhilarating life you lead

>>18206422
I know.

>>18205936
I guess they are distinct enough.

>>18205347
>Has there been any serious analysis of greentext as a storytelling medium? What are some of the techniques that distinguish a good greentext story from an amazing one? What are the tropes?
>This is one of the most important literary inventions in the 21st century and barely anyone is talking about it.

Very interesting thread, OP.

I feel that greentext stories and the way they can convey their message is very unique to 4chan. What makes them great is that such stories manage to convey their message in a highly condensed form, which makes it very efficient as a form of communication. This is only possible, because most readers will have a similar level of information regarding the larger context and general state of mind of the individual telling his story. Most readers will be able to identify. I consider them a very weird mix of prose and poem.

I certainly enjoy the stylistic devices most people use to abbreviate and convey emotion, such as abbreviated memes

>NOPE
>panic.exe
>doubt [x]

>>18205347
A thread actually died for this shit.

The arrow represents a QUOTE.
It has been used in emails and discussion forums for years before imageboards.

When you quote something, like in
>implying blablabla
Or
>he thinks nanana
>2012
You are quoting another person's actions, but instead of just copypasting it, you are translating it into what you think it means.
It's like an evolved form of parroting.

A "normal" example of parroting would be anon saying:
"I don't like racism, guys, stop."
And someone quoting him with
>I love to suck cocks, guys, stop.
But the meta evolved to a point where you can just say
>enjoying cock this much
and you are understood.

It is also a quote in cases like the ones posted by >>18207779, but you are quoting a piece of media/a joke from somewhere else.

Now, for greentext stories, things are a bit more complex than that.
I interpret
>be me
as a "imagine you are me", or "put yourself in my shoes for this story", like >18206291 said.
It is not that different from a "Enters me" we see some people writing on blogs and magazines, using theatrical language as a device.

Most of all, greentext denotes people's lack of skill with formulating their ideas into readable sentences, opting for simplicity because:
- Otherwise it would be too hard to piece their thoughts together;
- Readers are also not gonna face walls of text, so keeping it short through this "broken/simple grammar" style ensures people will have read and progressed a few lines before averting their eyes, raising your chances to hook people up to your story.

But now that it's a staple "technique", it might not be as effective, especially since even normal, long sentences are often greentexted purely "because others do it".
And since not everyone understands what he is doing, it stays into this gray area of acceptability and shaky rules.

>tl;dr: who am I quoting?

>>18205567
kek

>>18205527
>implying I won't eat two hamburgers in one sitting

>>18205817
idk wtf u just said but fuck u faggot

>implying

>>18206250
haeh

>>18207918
There you go; this is the explanation

Implying implications and inserting the nuance of mockery and sarcasm are all meme arrows do. Do you not remember when they first started to get used like this?

>>18205364
No. It's because greentexts are written in the second person:
>(you) be me (imperative?)
> (you) realize that something has happened
> (you) go to see what's going on
> someone did something
> (you) call the involved
> they beat you up
> tfw

>>18205364
"be me" is imperative to tell the reader : You are me, you do that,... in a simplistic yet correct form in english.

Anyone notice a parallel between greentext arrows and Joyce's dashes?

Buck Mulligan peeped an instant under the mirror and then covered the bowl smartly.
>Back to barracks! he said sternly.
He added in a preacher’s tone:
>For this, O dearly beloved, is the genuine Christine: body and soul and blood and ouns. Slow music, please. Shut your eyes, gents. One moment. A little trouble about those white corpuscles. Silence, all.
He peered sideways up and gave a long slow whistle of call, then paused awhile in rapt attention, his even white teeth glistening here and there with gold points. Chrysostomos. Two strong shrill whistles answered through the calm.
>Thanks, old chap, he cried briskly. That will do nicely. Switch off the current, will you?
He skipped off the gunrest and looked gravely at his watcher, gathering about his legs the loose folds of his gown. The plump shadowed face and sullen oval jowl recalled a prelate, patron of arts in the middle ages. A pleasant smile broke quietly over his lips.
>The mockery of it! he said gaily. Your absurd name, an ancient Greek!

>be me
>Greg

>>18205900
>What exactly are you doing by adding the arrow?
In my estimation it's usually used as a marker that indicates the equivalent of sub-verbal expression, similar to how italics are often used.

>green

>>18205364
Why are Redditors so obsessed with niggerifying everything? Kys.

One thing that makes me wonder is how international it is. Good greentexts come from multiple countries and cultures writing in English. I think the simplicity of the language (the present tense is very simple to learn and use), short, straightforward phrasing and stock, prepackaged expressions (be me, [image].[extension], etc) are especially accessible to people who don't necessarily have full fluency of English

Another is flexibility of genres. It can be all types of fiction, autobiographical, poetic, parody, political, narrative, historical, criticism, summation...
It's very short form, though.

>>18205614
>be pirate

>>18206219
>>be me
>is a stupid way to start off a story.
It sets the character, moron, like this anon >>18206186 said. Either you yourself are the character of the story or you are telling the story from the pov of another person like
>be OP
>suck dick

.

Here's a greentext for you guys to break down.
>be me
>never go to lit
>navigate to lit
>find thread
>read replies
>begin writing greentext
>no clue where I am going with this
>laughing like a madman the entire time
>still laughing
>I don't know why
>actually do know why
>confirm that I have lost my mind
>realize this greentext was pointless
>still typing anyways
>look at my bed, reminded I am always alone
>inevitably greentext must end
>leave a warning to those who wish to heed
get out while you still can

>>18209292
>The imperative makes you fusion with the narrator pov as a fact
>There is the imperative but we don't fill it.
>Everyone is the "me".
>Cut through literary bullshit
>Just the raw message
>coercion of the immediate
>Intuitive for everyone since it's the definition of intuition to be immediate.

Refined literature.

>>18205364
i was under the impression it was an evolution from text adventure games

>>18209575
I think it's a way to insert dev comments in some coding languages. So it naturally transitioned to standard use in early imageboards. Maybe it's why it also changes text colour, as dev comments are usually also highlighted in contrast to the surrounding code

>>18206078
>implying

>>18205347
test

>>18208054
beautiful painting

>>18209292
>>18209542
Based

>>18205364
>AAVE
Holy shit that such an incredibly retarded take. The only person who could type something like that would be some grotesquely ignorant, spoiled middle-class kid without a lick of self awareness.

>>18206078
It evolved you retard.
>The amount of absolute morons on this board.

>be me
>20yr old, no bicycle
>tfw

>

Greentext has evolved from what it originally was. Nowadays greentext is used to represent pure thoughts and ideas (e.g. perspectives, implications, reflections, etc..) instead of committing to the "long-hand" structure of language. It's basically just a condensing of language (i.e. minimum effort for maximum impact). Greentext is also often used as a satirized of itself (e.g. >implying).

I think it's an incredible "dialect" that's extremely useful for intelligent people.

>>18205506
The future is now old man, there will eventually be anthropological studies of 4chan culture and its impact on the wider internet

>>18205900
it all goes back to costanza

>>18206250
Made me laugh
Thank you, bro

>>18208786
Yes! Thought I was the only one!

I have a feeling that this is in part why /lit/ has such an affinity to his works.

>>18211519
ah yes, chan's first meme

>>18205347
my little brother uses ">" and he never used 4chan

>>18212284
Hé does, he just lies to you it's shameful to be here

>>18212297
Once I think about it
Yea

>>18206078
>be me
>laugh at you
>you dumb
>lol

>>18208960
kek reminds me of this

>>18208786
i'm not seeing it

>>18205347
>be me
>baby shoes
>never worn

>>18212422
Sauce on the girl?

>>18212867
Why are you like this, anon? Just go to /s/ and have unlimited porn.

>>18212659
Basically, James Joyce would signify a line of text as dialogue by beginning with a single dash–and no other punctuation. Similarly, the greentext arrow is a punctuation mark (for all intents and purposes) placed at the beginning of the line. The greentext arrow also signifies quotation, akin Joyce's dashes.