Redefining Dark Academia: A Privilege or A Law of Human Nature?

Many people would say that the soul of all classic literature that focuses on dark themes (which in this article, I would like to refer to as the genre of dark academia) bases it’s core philosophy on themes of anger, darkness, rage and unnecessary self destruction, but I would like to add a contradicting point by arguing that although, one can say these people who indulge in the darkness might be privileged, selfish, but they are also; lonely, misunderstood, passionate, intense and ambitious to a degree that is quite rare to be found in all of humanity.

However, the depth of dark academia is not to focus on ‘special’ people with special abilities, of course not, that is only a cover to blur the lines of the reader’s conscious, a tactic used by the author. Through this cover of people so different and so artsy, dark academia takes us to a conscious that is very different from our own and we often think this other consciousness is the author’s but it is actually one’s own subconscious where all there repressed thoughts, memories, and desires lie. Dark academia does not refer to prestigious schools, privileged kids, disastrous actions, no, that is only the story, when we dive deep into this story, the word ‘academia’ in the genre doesn’t refer to schools or academic stories that involve the exploration of darkness, but rather a type of literature that teaches us something of value.

My first read of Dostoevsky’s Notes From Underground,  which I would like to add into the genre of dark academia, is a perfect example of the depth of the genre beyond the story. The essence of this book lies not in the story, the story, to be frank, is the most disinteresting fiction I have ever read, but then, you will wonder, what makes this book something of value? What makes it dark academia? Dostoevsky pulls us in with his first line “I am a sick man, a wicked man.” His unhinged and unfiltered admissions of his stubbornness and desire to remain sick pinpoints a crucial aspect of every human’s inner animal. The irrational animal that listens to none and is more interested in taking pleasure out of one’s destruction rather than one’s good health or accomplishments. “My liver hurts;” he writes, “well, then let it hurt even worse.”

Through his sick thoughts and desires, he does not cover up his darkness with fancy words or careful sentences, he says what his darkness whispers him to do, and he indulges fully in this darkness, even though he is conscious that his sickness comes from the animal’s urges in him to welcome the darkness. He knows that he is being wicked and cruel, and yet he can’t stop, because he simply does not care, since he has repressed this part of him ever since he was born and now the urges have become so high that he is hardly able to control them and has become angry and wicked simply out of spite. His darkness has consumed him and although he knows this is wrong, he does nothing to stop it, and this unfiltered darkness is the precise reason why I add Notes from Underground as a masterpiece and profound addition to the genre of Dark Academia. It unravels the depth of the darkness that exists in every human (hidden most of the time) and all its clever, hurtful, cruel and self-destructive thoughts and actions that follow.

Similarly, the story by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, is an extraordinary piece of fiction where a scientist ambitious about creating another species of humans that are good ends up creating a monstrous demon instead. Although the scientist obsessively hates this demon he created, he does not realise how self-aware it is, and how desperately it craves love. Which underlines a crucial understanding of our own inner demons, whenever we indulge our demons, we are aware that we are doing so but most times, we do not realise that the demon only indulges in this destruction because it feels misunderstood and unloved by all for what it truly is. Quotes by the story’s demon prove this, such as “I am malicious because I am miserable.” And “I will revenge my injuries; if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear..”

The demon acts upon his threats when the scientist disagrees to follow his command of creating another creature like it, which makes the scientist himself get consumed in the rage of the demon and though he is aware that this might be the demon’s will, he gets consumed with hatred and a chase of the demon nevertheless. This again signifies how a hatred of the demon within oneself can make one consumed with rage and grief, for not just oneself but also for the world. One is blind in reality and all they see around them is their urge to end such a demon and the hatred that blurs their vision and the light of their hearts. Frankenstein is a great read of dark academia because it teaches us the consequences of blindly giving in to our ambitions, which creates demons inside of us that do not let us see anything around us, not the goodness, not the opportunities, but only our endless rage and grief and loneliness that we feel because of the existence of such a demon.

Many people will not care of this genre, because they believe they’re “above it”, but dark academia is not just the soul of literature, it is the bottom, the hidden, the deepest part of the soul of all humanity. Hence, whoever runs away from this literature runs away from the precise and full awareness of themselves.