Ars longa, vita brevis.

Ars longa, vita brevis: A Closer Look Into Dark Academia

By Giulia Helms

The concept of “Dark Academia” has been around for years, and is defined as “both an aesthetic and subculture that is primarily focused on higher education, the arts, calligraphy, museums, writing/reading, and shadowy classic Greek and Gothic architecture. The subculture focuses primarily on studying classic literature, ancient art, and “high-brow” liberal arts topics” states Bookish Brews in Dark Academia: The Truth About the Genre & Subculture. This subculture has thereby been a calling for many, mostly teenagers and young adults. For youth, Dark Academia can help them excel in their studies. It allows them to imagine attending a brooding English boarding school or a quiet all-girls school, imagining it would make school more enjoyable if they had the dark atmosphere, neat school uniforms, wrote via ink-and-quiz, and studied by candlelight in a grand library. Due to this love that academia-based aesthetics get, there has also been a rise in popularity of ranging media that emulate the aesthetic. One of the, if not the most, popular book in this subculture is The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Likewise, there has been recent attention focused on Saltburn, the comedy-thriller film created by LuckyChap Entertainment and directed by Emerald Fennell. Light your candles, put on some Tchaikovsky, prepare your tea, and let us dive into the romanticization of academia.

Let’s begin with the most recent piece of media, Saltburn. The film is set in late 2006, the destination being Oxford and Northamptonshire, England. The movie follows Oliver Quick, a geeky scholarship student who is having trouble fitting in at his school, the University of Oxford, because of his lack of experience with upper-class procedures and ways. He then meets Felix Catton, a popular and wealthy student who pities Quick due to the stories he regales of his parents’ addiction and mental health problems. Feeling sympathetic, Catton invites Quick to stay with him at his family’s home, Saltburn, to which Quick easily agrees. While staying at Saltburn with Catton and his family, Quick starts to come out of his cocoon and we find he is not as innocent or shy as he seems, showing us how he is, in reality, quite infatuated with Catton. He identifies himself as a truly unreliable narrator, introducing a theme that comes up quite frequently in Dark Academia media. Now, how does this all correlate to the romanticism of academia? Throughout the film, we see beautiful scenery that can directly be linked to Dark Academia, such as the scenes of Oxford and the estate of Saltburn itself, both having inherently Dark Academia interiors. The house represents its own character and is more than just a setting. But the point that most effectively tethers the film to the Dark Academia is its motif of murder and the strange, homoerotic relationship happening between Catton and Quick—mostly on Quick’s end. The film is dark, indulgent, comedic, and dramatic, all themes that Dark Academia craves.   

“Only rich people can afford to be this filthy.”

— Oliver Quick, Saltburn

Now, we fall into the rabbit hole of The Secret History by Donna Tartt. This novel, which made its debut in September of 1992, has sparked popularity in the past couple of years, making it one of the biggest contributors to the rise of Dark Academia. The novel is set in the 1980s at a fictional Vermont college called Hampden College. The premise is an inverted detective story narrated by one of the six main characters, Richard Papen. Years after an incident, Papen reflects upon the situation that led to the murder of one of the other main characters Edmund "Bunny" Corcoran. The protagonist, Papen, is sucked into the mysterious, ritualistic patterns of the Greek class that consists of all-knowing erudite Henry Winter, snobbish hypochondriac Francis Abernathy, loud gluttonous Corcoran, manipulative drunken Charles Macaulay, and his twin sister, the puzzling frilly Camilla Macaulay. Throughout the story, we get extreme Bacchanalian themes, which pair perfectly with its dusky, misty, whiskey-flavored tones. Slanted Spines words perfectly in its review of the book, “Reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt is like drinking black coffee and smoking a cigarette at a hotel bar while a well-dressed stranger recounts the tragedy of their New England college experience in an academic cult of Greek scholars.” This so-called “cult of Greek scholars” obsesses over aesthetics and meeting the high marks set by their professor, who seems to be the ultimate ringleader. Holding a bacchanal, killing two innocent people, and incest do not seem to make these students bat an eye. The novel has beautiful scenery that is wonderfully worded in such a way that you can perfectly imagine it. The book perfectly, and I mean perfectly encapsulates everything it means to be Dark Academia.

Does such a thing as 'the fatal flaw,' that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.”

— Donna Tartt, The Secret History

Anyone who is truly Dark Academia embraces the fact that the real Dark Academia is not all stereotypical beauty. It can be gross and off-putting, but that is exactly what makes it beautiful for so many people. They enjoy not having to hide all their flaws, because those flaws can now be praised by this niche society. It combines elements of literature, art, and intellectual pursuits in a unique and captivating way, celebrating the beauty of knowledge, encouraging critical thinking, and fostering a sense of community among like-minded individuals. The aesthetic of Dark Academia creates a nostalgic and enchanting atmosphere, the subculture providing a space for individuals to explore their passions, dive deep into literature, and engage in meaningful discussions. Plus, the emphasis on lifelong learning and the pursuit of wisdom is truly inspiring to many young students; literature, film, and clothing are just a few of the pluses. It's a subculture that encourages self-expression, creativity, and intellectual growth, making it an engaging community to be a part of.