Cold' and 'Hot' Societies

Title: Cold' and 'Hot' Societies
Description: Given this correlation, we can also apprehend a means of articulating the distinction between 'cold' societies, or historically stationary societies, and 'hot' societies, or historically cumulative societies, which, starting with Levi-Strauss, has replaced the traditional distinction between historical societies and societies without history. 'Cold' societies are those in which the sphere of ritual tends to be enlarged at the expense of play; 'hot' societies are those in which the sphere of play tends to be enlarged at the expense of ritual.
Creator: Agamben, Giorgio
Date: 1978
Source: In Playland: Reflections on History and Play ; Infancy and History: The Destruction of Experience
Bibliographic Citation: Agamben, Giorgio. 1993 "In Playland: Reflections on History and Play." In Infancy and History: The Destruction of Experience. Translated by Liz Heron. Verson. Page 77. ;;
Agamben, Giorgio. 1978 lnfanzia e storia. Giulio Einandi Editore