1 Introduction; 2 The Victorian Style; 3 Evaluating the Victorian Emotional Style: Causes and Consequences; 4 From Vigor to Ventilation: A New Approach to Negative Emotions; 5 Dampening the Passions: Guilt, Grief, and Love; 6 Reprise: The New Principles of Emotional Management; 7 "Impersonal, but Friendly": Causes of the New Emotional Style; 8 The Impact of the New Standards: Controlling Intensity in Real Life; 9 The Need for Outlets: Reshaping American Leisure; 10 Pre-Conclusion: Prospects? Progress?; 11 Conclusion: A Cautious CultureNotes; Index
Summary
Cool. The concept has distinctly American qualities and it permeates almost every aspect of contemporary American culture. From Kool cigarettes and the Peanuts cartoon's Joe Cool to West Side Story (Keep cool, boy.) and urban slang (Be cool. Chill out.), the idea of cool, in its many manifestations, has seized a central place in our vocabulary. Where did this preoccupation with cool come from? How was Victorian culture, seemingly so ensconced, replaced with the current emotional status quo? From whence came American Cool?. These are the questions Peter Stearns seeks to answer in this timely an
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-359) and index
