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| {{Wiktionarypar|cool}} | |||
| :''For other uses of cool, see ].'' | |||
| :''For more on cool in the context of indigenous African cultures, see ].'' | |||
| '''Cool''', in ], is an ] of attitude, ], comportment, appearance and ]. Because of the varied and changing connotations of ''cool'', as well its subjective nature, the word has no one meaning. It has associations of composure and self-control (cf. the ] definition) and is frequently used as an expression of admiration or approval. A great deal of literature has been committed to understanding the concept of cool in societies. | |||
| ==A cross-cultural perspective== | |||
| ===Cool in Africa and the diaspora=== | |||
| {{Main|African aesthetic}} | |||
| Scholar ] has described ] cool as having corollaries in several ]n cultural traditions, citing, the ] concept of "Itutu". He also has noted similarities between African and ]an notions of cool. | |||
| Thompson also, however, finds the cultural value of cool in Africa and the ] different from that held by Europeans, who define it primarily as the ability to remain calm under stress. He cites a definition of cool from the Gola people of ], who define it as the ability to be mentally calm or detached, in an other-wordly fashion, from one's circumstances, to be nonchalant in situations where emotionalism or eagerness would be natural and expected.<ref>Thompson, Robert Farris. "An Aesthetic of the Cool." ''African Arts'', Vol. 7, No. 1 (Autumn, 1973).</ref> | |||
| According to Thompson, there is significant weight, meaning and spirituality attached to cool in traditional African cultures, something which, Thompson argues, is absent from the idea in a Western context. "Control, stability, and composure under the African rubric of the cool seem to constitute elements of an all-embracing aesthetic attitude." African cool, writes Thompson, is "more complicated and more variously expressed than Western notions of ''sang-froid'' (literally, "cold blood"), cooling off, or even icy determination."(Thompson, ''African Arts'') | |||
| <blockquote>The telling point is that the "mask" of coolness is worn not only in time of stress, but also of pleasure, in fields of expressive performance and the dance. Struck by the re-occurrence of this vital notion elsewhere in tropical Africa and in the Black Americas, I have come to term the attitude "an aesthetic of the cool" in the sense of a deeply and completely motivated, consciously artistic, interweaving of elements serious and pleasurable, of responsibility and play.<ref>Thompson, Robert Farris. ''African Arts''.</ref></blockquote> | |||
| Many, trace today's pop-culture cool to concepts of cool in traditional ] cultures, transmitted to white American society and later internationally via the ] experience.{{fact}} ''Cool'' has been used to describe a general state of well-being, a transcendant, internal peace and serenity. (Thompson, ''African Arts''.) It also can refer to an absence of ], a state of harmony and balance as in, "The land is cool," or as in a "cool heart." Such meanings, according to Thompson, are African in origin. | |||
| <blockquote>Idioms of cool heart and cool territory do not ... communicate in Western languages the same sorts of meanings of composure and social stability unless the phrasing is used by, or has been influenced by, the presence of black people of African heritage.<ref>Thompson, Robert Farris. ''African Arts''.</ref></blockquote> | |||
| The ] expatriate ] scene in ], with its ] groupies, helped popularize notions of cool in the U.S. in the ]s.{{fact}} | |||
| ===In other cultures=== | |||
| According to authors Dick Pountain and David Robins, attitudes similar to the modern vernacular, or ], use of ''cool'' have existed for centuries in several cultures<ref>Dick Pountain and David Robins, Anatomy of an Attitude, Reaktion Books Ltd., 2000.</ref> They claim the ethic of the ] caste in ], warrior castes in India and East Asia have elements which resemble cool, and that a similar phenomenon in Europe, which they term "aristocratic cool" (also known as ]), has existed for centuries. | |||
| Pountain and Robins also see the '']'' of ] cultures and the "]n smile" of ] as having similarities with pop-culture cool. | |||
| ==Uses== | |||
| While slang terms are usually comprised of short-lived coinages and figures of speech, ''cool'' is an especially ubiquitous slang word, especially among young people. As well as being understood throughout the English-speaking world, the word has even entered the vocabulary of several languages other than English. | |||
| ''Cool'' can be used to describe composure and absence of excitement in a person, especially in times of stress, and can refer to something that is aesthetically appealing. It is also used to express agreement or assent. | |||
| ''Cool'' is often used as a general positive epithet or interjection which has a range of related adjectival ]s. Among other things, it can ean ''calm'', ''stoic'', ''impressive'', ''intriguing'', or ''superlative''. | |||
| ==Theories of cool== | |||
| ===''Cool'' as social distinction=== | |||
| According to this theory, ''cool'' is a ] game, in which ''cool'' exists only in comparison with things considered less ''cool''. Illustrated in the book '']'', ''cool'' is created out of a need for status and distinction. This creates a situation analogous to an ], in which ''cool'' is perpetuated by a ] problem in society.<ref name="rebel">Heath, Joseph and Potter, Andrew. '']''. Harper Perennial, 2004.</ref> | |||
| ===''Cool'' as an elusive essence=== | |||
| According to this theory, ''cool'' is a real, but unknowable property. ''Cool'', like "good", is a property that exists, but can only be sought after. {{ref|rebel}} In the ] article, "The coolhunt", ''cool'' is given 3 characteristics: | |||
| *"The act of discovering what's cool is what causes cool to move on" | |||
| *"Cool cannot be manufactured, only observed" | |||
| *" can only be observed by those who are themselves cool". | |||
| ===''Cool'' as a fictional concept=== | |||
| {{Seealso|Planned obsolescence}} | |||
| {{rquote|right| a heavily manipulative corporate ethos.|]}} | |||
| According to this theory, ''cool'' can be exploited as a manufactured and empty idea impossed on the culture at large through a ] process by the "Merchants of Cool"<ref></ref>. An artificial cycle of "cooling" and "uncooling" creates false needs in consumers, and stimulates the economy. "Cool has become the central ideology of consumer capitalism".<ref name="rebel"/> Supporters of this theory avoid the pursuit of cool. | |||
| ===''Cool'' as an opinion=== | |||
| Quite often ''cool'' is in the eye of the beholder. One person, usually a member of a certain social demographic could consider something to be ''cool'' whereas a member of a separate social demographic could consider completely the opposite to be worthy of the label. Trends are usually considered ''cool'' when only a small minority are involved in them. More people becoming interested in this trend pushes it towards the mainstream, therefore classifying it as ''uncool''. Something else will then emerge as a new trend, and the cycle will repeat indefinitely. | |||
| ===''Cool'' as a family resemblance concept=== | |||
| If cool cannot be defined by a set of necessary and sufficient conditions, then it is better understood as a ] concept. | |||
| Start with a set of paradigmatically cool individuals (for example, perhaps {], ], ]}), | |||
| and understand coolness as the union of overlapping penumbra centered on these cool individuals. | |||
| The paradigms of cool change with each generation and within each subculture. | |||
| ==''Cool'' definitions== | |||
| *"Cool is a knowledge, a way of life."<ref>], author of "Birth of The Cool" .</ref> | |||
| *"Coolness is the proper way you represent yourself to a human being."<ref>Thompson, Robert Farris. ''Flash of the Spirit'', New York: Vintage Books, 1983, p. 13.</ref> | |||
| *"Cool is an age-specific phenomenon, defined as the central behavioural trait of teenagerhood."<ref>Marcel Dansei, Cool: The Signs and Meanings of Adolescence, p. 1.</ref> | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| ==Compare== | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| <div class="references-small"> | |||
| <references /> | |||
| </div> | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
Revision as of 01:57, 27 February 2007
COOL = Infected Hair on an elephants but