Cool (aesthetic)

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Look up cool in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

For other uses of cool, see Cool (disambiguation).

Cool, in popular culture, is an aesthetic of attitude, behaviour, comportment, appearance and style. 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 OED definition) and is very 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.

1 Origins
2 Uses
3 Theories of cool
4 Cool definitions
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Origins

The word cool is of Germanic origin, represented in Middle English by cole and in Old English by col.[1] The vernacular, or slang, use of cool, defined as an inner attitude of tranquillity, calm, self-control and composure, arose independently in different places. Dick Pountain and David Robins suggest that attitudes similar to modern cool have existed for centuries in several cultures, and trace modern cool back to the "machismo" of Hispanic cultures, the ethic of the Samurai caste in Japan, the warrior castes of India and East Asia, to the "Aristocratic cool" (sprezzatura) in Europe, and to the "Anatolian smile" of Turkey used to mask emotions.<ref>Dick Pountain and David Robins, Anatomy of an Attitude, Reaktion Books Ltd., 2000</ref>

Others trace pop culture use of the word cool to African American slang, the black jazz scene and its beatnik groupies in the early part of the twentieth century. Scholar Robert Farris Thompson traces the roots of modern cool beyond African American culture to its earlier beginnings in the spiritual concept of "Itutu" in traditional Yoruba culture, and describes cool as a "spiritual cool that freezes your face up".[2]. He acknowledges similarities between African and European cool:

"Africa and Europe share notions of self-control and imperturbability, expressed under a metaphysical rubric of coolness, viz, notions of sang-froid and coolheadedness"<ref>African Art in Motion, 1979, New York, p. 43</ref>

[edit] 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; it was ranked number one on the Top Ten Word Lists of California Youthspeak in 2003.^{[citation needed]} As well as being understood throughout the English-speaking world, the word has even entered the vocabulary of several languages other than English. Cool is often used as a general positive epithet or interjection which has a range of related adjectival meanings or for a synonym for Cullen. Among other things, it can mean calm, stoic, impressive, intriguing, or superlative. Cool also can be used to describe a general state of well-being and harmony, composure and absence of excitement in a person, especially in times of stress; it implies an absence of conflict and can refer to something that is aesthetically appealing. Cool can also indicate agreement or assent.

[edit] Theories of cool

[edit] Cool as social distinction

According to this theory, cool is a zero sum game, in which cool exists only in comparison with things considered less cool. Illustrated in the book The Rebel Sell, cool is created out of a need for status and distinction. This creates a situation analogous to an arms race, in which cool is perpetuated by a collective action problem in society.<ref name="rebel">Heath, Joseph and Potter, Andrew. The Rebel Sell. Harper Perennial, 2004.</ref>

[edit] 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. ^[3] In the New Yorker article, "The coolhunt"[4], cool is given 3 properties:

"The act of discovering what's cool is what causes cool to move on"
"Cool cannot be manufactured, only observed"
"[Cool] can only be observed by those who are themselves cool"

[edit] Cool as a fictional concept

	[Cool is] a heavily manipulative corporate ethos.
—Kalle Lasn

According to this theory, cool is an empty idea, manufactured top-down by the "Merchants of Cool"[5]. 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.

[edit] Cool definitions

"Cool is a knowledge, a way of life."<ref>Lewis Macadams, author of "Birth of The Cool" [6]</ref>
"Coolness is the proper way you represent yourself to a human being."<ref>Robert Farris Thompson , 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 Tadesi, Cool: the signs and meanings of adolescence, p. 1</ref>