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What Is ‘Dark Academia,’ and Why Is It Trending on Social Media?
“暗黑学院风”大热，一下回到19世纪画风

You would be forgiven if you didn’t know what “Dark Academia” meant.In short, it is the name given to an aesthetic and subculture based on the architecture and clothing styles of some of the world’s most elite colleges, specifically Oxbridge and the Ivy League schools — and perhaps Hogwarts.

Think gothic hallways and robed uniforms, candlelit evenings spent marking up classic literature while raindrops platter against a stained glass window.

That is the general idea, but Dark Academia can be interpreted differently by different people.Your school library can be considered Dark Academia, and the same goes for your grandpa’s study.

On platforms like TikTok, even more telling examples of Dark Academia are being shared.It’s cursive notes written in Latin on a piece of parchment.It’s cutouts of Greek statues and the covers of Penguin classics, tweed suits, and robed uniforms.It’s reading Beat poetry while listening to Chopin, preferably on vinyl.

According to a trend report, the Dark Academia aesthetic is proving to be exceedingly popular among members of Gen Z, or people born between 1997 and 2012.Until recently, cultural trends were difficult to ascertain.Now, thanks to social media, we can get a clear picture of the different types of users buying into the trend, as well as the possible reasons for them doing so.

A resurgence of intellectualism

One of the main reasons Dark Academia is currently trending is that the style means different things to different people.Some are here mainly for the “Academia” side.

They appreciate that the style is getting others excited about the unbridled pursuit of knowledge and contemplation of artistic or academic topics that don’t receive enough attention from mainstream society.

The Dark Academia aesthetic is hugely influenced by Oxbridge and the Ivy League, two renowned academic networks that — through their elitist nature, internal hierarchies, and imposing architecture — created environments in which the otherwise slow, uneventful, and oftentimes unprofitable pursuit of knowledge is closely connected with much more enticing images of wealth and power.

Dark Academia internet subcultures center on adopting and maintaining some important elements of the student lifestyle, including frequent visits to libraries and museums, above average caffeine consumption, and study sessions that often go on till way into the evening — even when you’re not in school and won’t get graded for anything.

For many post-grads, Dark Academia helps treat the nostalgia they feel for their college days, when intellectual exploration came hand-in-hand with lack of responsibilities.
The dark side of Dark Academia

Others gravitate toward the “Dark” side of Dark Academia.These people are very much concerned with the pursuit of knowledge as well, but — writes Adiba Jaigirdar in Book Riot — only insofar as it relates to the "exploration of death and morbidity."They subscribe to a dramatic but quite possibly accurate axiom about education: that he who increases knowledge also increases sorrow.

This somber, at times sinister, character of Dark Academia is reflected back in the gothic design of many prestigious colleges in North America and Europe.

The imposing appearance of these schools helped present higher education as an important, serious, and noble enterprise.

Moody architecture and philosophical pessimism are such important aspects of Dark Academia that the online subculture eventually spawned its own sub-subculture, called Light Academia.

If Dark Academia is a lamentation of death, Light Academia is a celebration of life.Its attitudes toward learning are more positive; the pursuit of knowledge, instead of causing us grief, can be used to make the world a better, happier place.