By Narayan Saimbi
When I think of the term “dark academia”, my mind is transported to gothic castles, candle-lit university study halls, plots of murder and conspiracy and, above all, the “old money” aesthetic emblazoned by tweed and preppy style, with a strong air of elitism surrounding it.
Novels such as Donna Tart’s The Secret History, or M.L. Rio’s If We Were Villains evoke these sensations. The dark nights, the clandestine secrets, the queer undertones; this is what dark academia symbolises, in the most classic sense of the term. What it does not symbolise, in my eyes, is copycat clothing stocking the shelves of Zara and H&M. Or even worse, the hijacking of these aesthetics of grandeur and intelligence to promote far-right thinking and ideology.
But how did we get here? How did an aesthetic that has its roots in academia and classical works become a symptom of the plague of fast fashion, and simultaneously a catalyst of engagement for far-right groups? To understand this, we’re going to need to go back- back to the emergence of the term, its wildfire across Tumblr in the 2010s, and its resurgence on TikTok during the 2020 COVID lockdown.
A Brief History of “Dark Academia”
Whilst “dark academia” certainly has its roots in the preppy style of the ‘50s, the aesthetic fully emerged in 2015 on the social media site Tumblr. What started as a collection of individuals interested in The Secret History, discussions of the ideas and themes of the novel spread like wildfire throughout the site, primarily through the use of mood boards. These were initially curated by fans of The Secret History, but also received contributions from other large communities of the site.
An example of a “Dark Academia” mood board on Tumblr (Image Credit: Aesthetics Wiki)
With inclusion of other media into the term, such as Dead Poets Society and Kill Your Darlings, the internal philosophy behind “dark academia” was a mixture of hyper-intelligence, academic scandal, and an almost Bacchian sense of rebellion. Combined with an intrinsic sense of enclosed community, “dark academia” combined a strive to be disgustingly intelligent with acts of an immoral and clandestine nature.
Of course, not everyone who took to the aesthetic adopted the darker aspects to the fullest extent. But, certainly, a sense of “work hard, play hard” was of extreme importance to the overall philosophy of this literary aesthetic.
“Dark Academia” in the Modern Day
Whilst this philosophy was initially further emblazoned by this Esquire article, the explosion of popularity that “dark academia” had on TikTok in 2020 didn’t quite seem to take this on. Instead, this resurgence firmly put the aesthetic on the path of losing its roots in the classics, and simplified it to mainly a fashion sense. Whilst the more literary aspects were picked up by trends like “studytok”, the overall aesthetic of “dark academia” lost its meaning- the novels that inspired the aesthetic were used mainly as an outfit accessory, and nothing more.
Now, funnily enough, I’m not advocating for elitist societies and uncouth behaviour- the novels that inspired the aesthetic in and of itself criticise these themes specifically. But it is upsetting to see a lifestyle that had its roots in academia, classical literature and the desire to chase knowledge be stripped away of all of this- instead, the term is now used to describe a preppy style of clothing that happens to involve dark colours.
A black tweed jacket from Zara, very much in the style of “dark academia”
From what I’ve seen, this reductionist approach is a pretty clear sign of the anti-intellectual times that the world as a whole appears to be going through. I’m sure you’ve seen the headlines of declining literacy rates, and young children choosing iPads over books and socialising- so I won’t dive too deep into that here. But with the current over-reliance on screens and AI in our daily lives, and a lack of time spent actively doing things and thinking for ourselves, I’m not particularly surprised that “dark academia” has been reduced to simply dark-coloured clothes in a Zara store.
How “Dark Academia” has been adopted by the Far-Right
Now, here’s a more interesting, yet more disturbing, way in which the “dark academia” aesthetic has been twisted in the modern day.
Leonie Christel, a.k.a ‘The Book Leo’, uncovered the ways in which far-right organisations have hijacked the features of “dark academia”, in order to bring more young people into their cause. Christie draws a correlation between the attraction that young people have towards both the “dark academia” and “old money” aesthetics, and the brand image of Forum Voor Democratie- a far-right party in the Netherlands.
With a distinct use of Latin in political speeches, a youth summer camp taking place in a castle and a strong sense of elitism, there do appear to be large similarities between the features of “dark academia”, and the brand image that this far-right organisation uses to garner support.
The leader of Forum Voor Democratie, Thierry Baudet (Image Credit: Forum Voor Democratie)
A potential rebuttal for this could be that Forum Voor Democratie are simply embracing tradition, rather than trying to pander to young people attracted to a certain aesthetic. But in response to this, the existence of a youth summer camp in particular, where these aesthetics of grandeur and elitism are used to quietly introduce far-right ideology, seems to firmly cement the fact that Forum Voor Democratie know what they’re doing by using these popular ideas and aesthetics in their garnering of youth support.
Leonie Christel’s full analysis on “dark academia”
What started as a book club with a love for The Secret History, “dark academia” has been reduced to dark-coloured clothes in a fast-fashion store and a point of indoctrination for far-right organisations. With an apparent rise in anti-intellectualism, I’m hardly surprised by this detachment from the literary foundation that the aesthetic was once firmly grounded in.
I should note, “dark academia” circles that have a basis in literature do still exist, albeit a lot more quietly than they used to. But, in this era of misinformation, doomscrolling and a general reduction in literacy rates, “dark academia” desperately needs to revert to what it once was. Maybe less of the Bacchian partying and the current far-right overtone, but reviving the aesthetics’ strong foundations in literature and intellectual discussion can only reap benefits to those who subscribe to it.
“Dark academia” made learning and reading feel alluring, rewarding and for the use of a better word, ‘cool’. Whilst this did make intellectualism feel slightly trendy, I would rather it be trendy than not exist at all.
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