Culture & Society

The Shallow World of Dark Academia Aesthetic: Anti-Intellectualism

Dark Academia romanticises books, old libraries and university life. But what happens when learning becomes an aesthetic, reading becomes a competition and exhaustion becomes something to admire? Perhaps education should be about what remains after we close the book.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

The Origins of Dark Academia

The term Dark Academia emerged on the internet in the 2010s, particularly on Tumblr around 2014–2015. It is believed that the aesthetic developed from a deep idealisation of higher education, literature and art. The good side of this phenomenon is that it turned reading and studying into a passion and even a lifestyle, rather than reinforcing the old notion that school and education are boring.

The foundation of the aesthetic can be found in literary and film works. The book The Secret History by Donna Tartt, written in 1992, is widely considered an important influence on Dark Academia because it represents some of the fundamental ideas associated with the aesthetic. The story follows a group of university students who isolate themselves in their intellectualism so much that it eventually leads to murder. On the other hand, the visual identity was significantly inspired by the 1989 film Dead Poets Society because of the movie’s storyline, including a conservative boarding school, uniforms, and a passion for poetry. Another film that influenced the aesthetic is Kill Your Darlings, released in 2013, which brought a darker and more rebellious energy connected to the Beat Generation writers.

Dark Academia aesthetic celebrates learning, reading and productivity, and is recognisable by dark tones, Gothic architecture and old books. But when does it cross the boundaries? When learning turns into obsessive all-night studying, competitions and rivalries, the aesthetic loses its pretty parts. Therefore, elitism, toxic productivity and burnout can become problems, while “academia” in the name loses some of its original purpose.

Reading as a Competition

Platforms such as Goodreads, Instagram (Bookstagram) and TikTok (BookTok) currently have a trend called “reading challenges”, where users challenge themselves to read as many books as possible within a particular timeframe. For instance, a challenge could be to read 100 books in a year, 50 books during summer, or complete similar goals. Those kinds of challenges can leave readers feeling frustrated if they do not achieve their goals, while the pressure to reach a target number may also change the way some people approach reading. However, research on online reading challenges also shows that they can encourage people to read more, meaning that their effects are not necessarily negative.

On another note, there is also the question of credibility in claims where someone says that they read ten books a week. Such claims can be difficult to compare because people have different responsibilities, such as work, school and family. The problem is not necessarily that someone reads ten books a week, but that reading can become another form of competition. This unhealthy comparison may make some people feel less accomplished and may divert attention from the actual experience of reading. It can divert from the true purpose of Dark Academia, as well.

Reading More Does Not Necessarily Mean Knowing More

It does not matter how many books a person reads; it does not make one more educated just because they read a lot. What matters is that an individual can learn by reading and can attain the ability to understand what is being read. Therefore, developing the skills of really understanding what is written and knowing how to apply that information in real life is one of the ways people can cultivate critical thinking; and that should ultimately be one of the purposes of reading.

This directs us to another problem: competition among university students. The rivalry among students does not only happen in fiction, but it is real, and it can show itself in ways where students compete and compare grades, which can create a toxic environment, isolation and burnout. To the latter, professors and institutions can make a contribution as well through unrealistic deadlines, heavy workloads and the number of assignments they give, forgetting that many students work alongside their studies due to financial pressures and the current economy.

The Aesthetic of Academia

Moreover, visual social media such as Pinterest and Instagram present Dark Academia through dark tones such as dark wood, candles, low-lit rooms, libraries, glasses, books, woollen jumpers (sweater) and tweed jackets. If observed more closely, the said aesthetic has little in common with real higher education that it tries to connect itself with.

The aesthetic can create a romanticised image of university life that focuses on old libraries, beautiful gothic buildings, classical literature and intellectual conversations, while leaving out the less attractive parts of academia: deadlines, administrative work, financial pressure, competition, uncertainty and exhaustion. In this sense, Dark Academia can become more about the appearance of knowledge than knowledge itself.

The Difference Between Reading and Education

The dangerous thing about this trend is that it can promote the idea that higher education can be reduced to simply reading books about philosophy or history and believing that this equals real university education. And that is not the biggest irony, but the fact that some of the most devoted followers of the Dark Academia lifestyle may simultaneously reject universities as institutions because they believe they can achieve the same level of knowledge and skills as someone who has dedicated years of their life to formal study. Because the lifestyle that this internet subculture promotes can be far removed from real academia.

People who attended university, including myself, know the sacrifices that come with pursuing higher education, which can often include missing out on family time, delaying other life plans, sacrificing socialising, feeling of falling behind in life, and entering the job market later. For students who work alongside their studies, combining these responsibilities can also create additional pressure and conflict between work and university. In many cases, this can contribute to frustration, exhaustion and feelings of isolation, although the experience is different for every student.

The Romanticisation of Burnout

Thus, there is nothing romantic about spending whole nights studying or reading books and then being expected to fully function the next day. That can lead to chronic tiredness and intellectual exhaustion. Academic burnout is a real problem that many students deal with and romanticising it through the aesthetic can minimise the seriousness of the problem.

Studying until exhaustion does not make someone more intelligent, just as owning hundreds of books does not automatically make someone well educated. Education requires time, reflection, discussion, criticism and the ability to question what we are reading. This is where the aesthetic can become problematic; when the appearance of intellectual life becomes more important than the intellectual work itself.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Dark Academia aesthetic was created as a digital escape from the technological world towards appreciating the smell of paper, using a pen to write, having long conversations about philosophy and imagining the aesthetic of old European universities such as Oxford or Cambridge. There is nothing wrong with enjoying these things. In fact, the aesthetic can encourage people to read, write, visit libraries and become interested in subjects they might otherwise ignore. The problem begins when education becomes an aesthetic rather than a process of learning.

Dark Academia shows us how easily knowledge can become something that we consume, display and use to create an identity. A photograph of an old book, a Gothic library or a desk covered with notes can create the impression of an intellectual life, but the image itself cannot replace the work behind it.

For us, the real value of reading and studying is not in how many books we finish, how late we stay awake or how academic we appear to other people. It is in what remains after we close the book: what we have understood, what questions it has raised and whether it has changed the way we look at the world. Perhaps that is where Dark Academia should return to its original purpose. Not to romanticise exhaustion, elitism or the appearance of intelligence, but to remind us that learning can still be meaningful in a world increasingly dominated by screens, speed and constant distraction.

This article explores themes related to dark academia, dark academia aesthetic, dark academia anti-intellectualism, burnout, toxic productivity, university, dark academia bookstagram, dark academia booktok, dark academia criticism

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