The “dark academia” aesthetic has swept in and out of trends over the last 20 years. Donna Tartt’s debut novel The Secret History, which was released in 1992, can be credited to starting it all. A story about a close-knit elite group of students studying classical Greek at an exclusive liberal arts college in Vermont, who eventually get wound up in the murder of one of their fellow students, it’s 544 pages of satirical elitism. With the rise of #BookTok, The Secret History has made its way back into the hands of new readers, nearly 30 years since its initial release.

However, this novel was just the groundwork for the aesthetic. In recent years, contemporary novels like If We Were Villians by M.L. Rio, which is suspiciously similar to TSH, except its about a group of theatre students studying Shakespeare, (it’s no surprise things start going south after the group’s annual Halloween rendition of Macbeth), as well as Bunny by Mona Awad, and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo have taken over, it’s hard to read one without being drawn to the others. Since these stories about elitist university students are limited, many classic novels are considered dark academia as well, such as The Picture of Dorian Gray and Frankenstein. Because, of course, what is academia without classics?

So, what is “dark academia”? Bookish Brews defines it as, “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.” Generally, dark academia is also associated with anything gothic or even horror, and is not limited to only novels. Shows like Tim Burton’s Wednesday as well as The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,  and films like Dead Poet’s Society, Kill Your Darlings, and even Heathers, have all been accredited as dark academia. If there are secret societies, elitism, and murder, it’s bound to be called dark academia.

Yet, there cannot be darkness if there is no light, therefore, light academia is also a popular aesthetic. While it is essentially less gothic and less murderous than its dark counterpart, it has almost become more popular post-quarantine. Light academia is simply the obsession with art, literature, history, and learning. Influences of light academia can be found in shows like Gilmore Girls, or the 2019 adaptation of Little Women. Most of the pleasurable and enjoyable sides of learning are considered light academia. Overall, academia romanticizes learning and has encouraged many young adults to fall in love with literature.

Both academia aesthetics go far past literature and have created an entire subculture involving music and clothing as well. Presumptuously, dark academia involves a color palette of white, grey, and black, while light academia tends to involve colors such as beige, white, and cream. The style is usually defined with trousers, sweater vests, trench coats or blazers, and loafers or Mary Jane’s. Typically, the music that can be associated with academia is anything classical, jazz, and even contemporary albums like Taylor Swift’s Folklore and Evermore and Hozier’s self-titled.

While being popular on social media like TikTok, the subculture focuses on a time before technology, usually alongside the analog obsession of film cameras and record players. Interestingly enough, it is generally a social-media-based subculture. Videos can be seen all over TikTok of users studying in cafes, strolling bookstores and libraries, and even reading by candlelight.

As with most hobbies and aesthetics, academia saw a resurgence during the pandemic, as students were shut away from academic settings, many students began fantasizing about it online. With the rise, it received a lot of backlash while many felt the subculture romanticized depression and glorified death. This is also a reason I feel that light academia has somewhat taken over between the two, as it is seemingly less harmful.

Something I have noticed is that one generation will always be obsessed with something from the past or previous generations. This is especially noticeable in the 20-year trend cycle, one that has been seen in the last few years with the y2k trends. Personally, I think dark academia has seen an uprise following this same cycle since dark academia was first popular on Tumblr in the early 2010s, which at the time took inspiration from the 80s and 90s.

In comparison to other trends, both dark and light academia is not only subject to fashion but more so a lifestyle. This opens the possibility for the aesthetic to be long term, instead of fading away only to return in the coming years.