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User
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Last Active 01-01-70 12:00 am
Joined 01-01-70
Review Comments 64,287
| Dark Academia
[no-one reads descriptions] | | 1 |  | Wovenhand
Woven Hand
Alright, so I usually make zero effort to tune into any tiktok bs and find it rather Un Cool to rag on it purely because haha attention-sapped zoomer shite, but this one got me double taking and I am unsure how I feel about it and would like your OPINIONS please! | | 2 |  | Claude Debussy
La mer (The Sea), L. 109
The ~~vibe~~ is basically a shitton of argyle sweaters + leatherbound/hardcover texts (bonus point for parchment/wax seals etc) + handwriting + emphasis on [neo]classical architecture and modernist literature. Hit up a google img search - yes - you see.
It's the kind of thing that would have been treated as a straight parody of crusty and/or pretentious pseudo-literates even ten years ago, but now it's hailed as a comfy movement because it's given bookgeeks of all backgrounds an appreciative, inclusive scene to flex how they read Crime and Punishment when they were 12. I don't necessarily hate that. | | 3 |  | Lana del Rey
Chemtrails Over The Country Club
I have Questions about the """dark"""-centric branding, which as far as I can see seems to nod to 1) the gothic overtones of (some of) the movement's sources texts and (mainly) 2) a load of good ol' tumblr-inherited edgecred
On the one hand, it's actually kinda cool that Tiktok is finally fuelling a movement promoting engagement with Off The Grid media that demands significant time and engagement of attention, so fair shits to anyone who's finally kicked themselves into reading To The Lighthouse because some e-rando's heavily besweatered debrief clip made it look cool and/or sexy
On the other hand, Tiktok is a terrible discussion platform for texts as profound as the ones the scene is juggling (these the kinds of books you read books about, thank you v much 10 minute time limit), and I have firm reservations about the balance of open-minded personal engagement and attainment-complex--driven trophyism it actually encourages in its members. Maybe this is unfair, but I've always seen lit as something first and foremost solitary and personal, and it just seems awkward to me to see it propping up such heavily exhibitionist output | | 4 |  | St. Vincent
MassEducation
A large proportion of the movement seems to draw on the image and (imagined?) lifestyle of traditional British boarding schools, and ig I'm
1) glad the elitism of that culture is being reclaimed on an open platform
2) not at all glad that the still-heavily-underdiscussed (unless it concerns a successful politician) levels of traumatic parental separation and empathic impairment associated with boarding schools are being so freely reduced to an aesthetic to begin with | | 5 |  | Joni Mitchell
Blue
The aesthetic itself is something I used to think was pretty cool with people I knew who did unprompted adjacent things on their own terms, but in this guise takes on that classic e-movement sense of templates templating other templates and just makes me think that, gawd, did none of these people get the memo that the OGs of this style were too cool to imitate
...but once again, the Look/culture carries such exclusivist connotations that there's some good in seeing that particular bubble burst. nothing like the copy/paste function for dismantling subcultures people have long been overly precious about | | 6 |  | Kate Bush
The Sensual World
tl;dr is this basically the gender-equalised queer-friendly version of that wave of insufferable BOY teenagers who used to upload rounds of Infinite Jest and Gravity's Rainbow selfies (+ greater fidelity to the literary c-c-canon + ginormous harry potter fetish) | | 7 |  | The National
Trouble Will Find Me
(i was 100% one of those selfie people and there is no hatred stronger than self-hatred)
list is vaguely what i'd imagine a dark academia mix to contain | |
Viriathus
08.24.22 | Didn't know it became a thing on TikTok but I believe it's origins were tumblr post-mass exodus. Which is definitely a better platform of text discussion but considering how much tumblr shot their own foot off I guess the only way the aesthetic could really have any significance is if it moved outside of Tumblr. | Heppasodge
08.24.22 | To me it seems like an exaggerated visualisation/online community surrounding a phase that lots of emotionally-neglected college-going kids go through. Tik-tok is sort of like peoples' subconscious writ large so it doesn't surprise me that it's turned into a mode of dressing or identity, especially for young people. The dressing/identity is somewhat cuckish but the appeal of angsty literature and associated pretentiousness happens at most universities to a degree – Tiktok just allows people to engage in it without being directly bullied, so it goes further than it has before. Outwardly the image is ridiculously lame, verging on those people that dress like animals (furries?) but encouragement of reading Russian literature or the French philosophers or whoever else isn't bad in itself. Many of the books in this kind of area include valuable lessons for emotionally damaged people to learn, so sometimes its just a form of therapy. The attention-span vs. complexity of texts issue is interesting but I think its tempting to think that technology destroys people's ability to appreciate the slower things in life – when this isn't necessarily always true. | Mort.
08.24.22 | uhhhh yeah i have sort of a strong dislike of dark academia (Have i mentioned i have a philosophy degree!?!?!?!?) dont have the brain power to discuss anything right now but will come back later when my brain lets me read and not feel sleepy | kalkwiese
08.24.22 | Uh, wow, didn't know this was also a TikTok thing (I don't use TikTok).
In short: I enjoy the aesthetic, I hate the fetishization. Reading isn't glamorous, it's necessary to do work and actually read. I don't like pretending like it is, because I get a feeling that people would buy, idk, Ulysses without understanding what they're getting into lol
Like, science is awesome. The fetishization of science is weird to me though, because people tend to forget how tedious and work intensive it is | CygnusX1
08.24.22 | If it gets kids to read (or at least pretend to read), super. There are plenty of worse trends they could be doing for likes. Can't wait til goth electro cottagecore is mainstream
| Relinquished
08.24.22 | sounds like goth but before edgar allen poe got published | nightbringer
08.24.22 | wtf is this | sixdegrees
08.25.22 | the dark enlightenment | YoYoMancuso
08.25.22 | Dark Brandon | kalkwiese
08.25.22 | "If it gets kids to read (or at least pretend to read), super. There are plenty of worse trends they could be doing for likes."
True, and it's cool there is appreciation for whacky modernist lit tbh, that stuff is pretty contrary to commercial trends and pretty cool actually. | Demon of the Fall
08.25.22 | I understood maybe 5% of this, at a push, but I imagine you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who'd disagree with...
'If it gets kids to read (or at least pretend to read), super. There are plenty of worse trends they could be doing for likes.'
(except I'm unsure on the last word... guessing that's a social media style 'like' similar to Facebook)
but yeah what's a Tiktok anyway? | Mort.
08.25.22 | 'On the one hand, it's actually kinda cool that Tiktok is finally fuelling a movement promoting engagement with Off The Grid media that demands significant time and engagement of attention, so fair shits to anyone who's finally kicked themselves into reading To The Lighthouse because some e-rando's heavily besweatered debrief clip made it look cool and/or sexy'
yeah im just kind of sceptical about peoples engagements with these texts if theyve got into them through a social media aesthetic. at the end of the day it doesnt really matter tho i guess. maybe they will approach the text seriously, maybe they wont. who cares.
one thing i dont get tho is the preoccupation with modernist fiction. seems more dark academic to read weird esoteric philosophy rather than donna tart writing about people who read plato
(is there anything lamer than an aesthetic that revolves around reading a novel about people who are the basis for your aesthetic?)
also, any preoccupation with making academic work seem cool rather than simply true sort of gets my goat. do the work slowly and diligently, find texts relevant to the issues your interested in. dont be an edgelord nietzsche wannabe
no i wont explain or respond goodbye | Assemblage
08.27.22 | Yeah, idk. I guess I'm going to go with a "pass". This almost reads like a parody in itself but I guess I'm missing the larger boat on this and all I have to say is "it's the internet", trends and styles are bound to suck. | robertsona
08.27.22 | I have no idea what this is but I do like that you posted this list to discuss it. lemme do some research | Kompys2000
08.27.22 | Someone call in a semiotics professor the zoomers are decontextualizing iconography again | Gyromania
08.27.22 | Good list didn't know you dug these albums | Gyromania
08.27.22 | i love your writeup for 5. that's exactly how i feel about the album | Egarran
08.27.22 | I love me some gothic and I had a crush on Luna Lovegood, so def go for it. | someone
08.28.22 | the whole trend seems like a Wes Anderson dark phase |
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