1 europe
1.1 aristocratic , artistic cool
1.2 european inter-war cool
1.3 post-world war ii cool
1.4 polish cool
1.5 czech cool
europe
aristocratic , artistic cool
mona lisa, or la gioconda (la joconde), leonardo da vinci expresses sprezzatura, aristocratic cool .
aristocratic cool , known sprezzatura, has existed in europe centuries, particularly when relating frank amorality , love or illicit pleasures behind closed doors; raphael s portrait of baldassare castiglione , leonardo da vinci s mona lisa classic examples of sprezzatura. sprezzatura of mona lisa seen in both smile , positioning of hands. both smile , hands intended convey grandeur, self-confidence , societal position. sprezzatura means, literally, disdain , detachment. art of refraining appearance of trying present oneself in particular way. in reality, of course, tremendous exertion went pretending not bother or care.
english poet , playwright william shakespeare used cool in several of works describe composure , absence of emotion. in midsummer night s dream, written sometime in late-16th century, contrasts shaping fantasies of lovers , madmen cool reason, in hamlet wrote o gentle son, upon heat , flame of thy distemper, sprinkle cool patience, , antagonist iago in othello musing reason cool our raging motions, our carnal stings, our unbitted lusts.
the cool anatolian smile of turkey used mask emotions. similar mask of coolness worn in both times of stress , pleasure in american , african communities.
european inter-war cool
the key themes of modern european cool forged avant-garde artists achieved prominence in aftermath of first world war, notably dadaists, such key dada figures arthur cravan , marcel duchamp, , left-wing milieu of weimar republic. program of such groups self-consciously revolutionary, determination scandalize bourgeoisie mocking culture, sexuality , political moderation.
berthold brecht, both committed communist , philandering cynic, stands archetype of inter-war cool. brecht projected cool attitude life onto famous character macheath or mackie messer (mack knife), in threepenny opera. mackie, nonchalant, smooth-talking gangster, expert switchblade, personifies bitter-sweet strain of cool; puritanism , sentimentality both anathema cool character.
during turbulent inter-war years, cool privilege reserved bohemian milieus brecht s. cool irony , hedonism remained province of cabaret artistes, ostentatious gangsters , rich socialites, decadents depicted in evelyn waugh s brideshead revisited , christopher isherwood s goodbye berlin, tracing outlines of new cool. peter stearns, professor of history @ george mason university, suggests in effect seeds of cool outlook had been sown among inter-war generation.
post-world war ii cool
the second world war brought populations of britain, germany , france intimate contact americans , american culture. war brought hundreds of thousands of gis relaxed, easy-going manner seen young people of time embodiment of liberation; , them came lucky strikes, nylons, swing , jazz—the american cool.
to cool or hip meant hanging out, pursuing sexual liaisons, displaying appropriate attitude of narcissistic self-absorption, , expressing desire escape mental straitjacket of ideological causes. late 1940s onward, popular culture influenced young people on world, great dismay of paternalistic elites still ruled official culture. french intelligentsia outraged, while british educated classes displayed haughty indifference smacked of older aristocratic cool.
the polish cool
the new attitude found special resonance behind iron curtain, offered relief earnestness of socialist propaganda , socialist realism in art. in polish industrial city Łódź, jazz, forbidden music , served polish youth of 1950s had served african-american creators, both personal diversion , subterranean resistance saw stultifying official culture. clubs featured live jazz performances, , smoky, sexually charged atmosphere carried message puritanical values , monumental art of marxist officialdom ideal foil.
arriving in poland via france, america , england, polish cool stimulated film talents of generation of artists, including andrzej wajda, roman polanski, , other graduates of national film school in Łódź, novelist jerzy kosinski, in clinical prose cool tends towards sadistic.
czech cool
in prague, capital of bohemia, cool flourished in faded art deco splendor of cafe slavia. significantly, following crushing of prague spring soviet tanks in 1968, part of dissident underground called jazz section .
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