Dark academia

[15] Donna Tartt's novel The Secret History, published in 1992, which tells the story of a murder that takes place within a group of classics students at a New England liberal arts college, has been credited as being the inspiration for the trend.

Writing for Screen Rant, Kayleena Pierce-Bohen has listed TV shows such as Ares, The Umbrella Academy, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Queen’s Gambit, Wednesday and The Magicians as among works that fit within the aesthetics.

[24][25] Book Riot writer Zoe Robertson stated that the subculture draws on "seductive depictions of shadowy extravagance" and reminds her "to see the rot in the foundations of an institution I can't stay away from, and build my own school in defiance.

[28][29][30] Honi Soit writer Ezara Norton stated that it "reveals a deep disillusionment with [education models that devalue knowledge unless it can be used to generate profit], and a longing for a space free to learn unencumbered by a neoliberal agenda.

"[31] Writing for Jacobin, Amelia Horgan argued that the trend was in part a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in students leaving campuses to learn in their family homes where many did not have access to adequate study space, providing "a fantasy of the university experience" which they were unable to obtain.

However, she also noted that the world presented in the aesthetic was very different from that of the contemporary university, highlighting trends in UK academia as an example of the impacts of neoliberal policies on education, including long hours and casualisation for teaching staff and students having to work multiple part-time jobs to cover their costs.

[35][36][37][38][39] Critics have argued that the literary canon from which it draws inspiration is an overwhelmingly white one, with Tim Brinkhof claiming that content creators associated with dark academia "prefer to discuss Oscar Wilde and Emily Dickinson over Toni Morrison or James Baldwin".

[40][41][42][12] Sarah Burton, a sociologist from City, University of London, noted that the aesthetic lacks representation of various groups including "most women, working class, people of colour, plus-sized, individuals with low economic or cultural capital, disability, caring and domestic activities and labour (especially the enjoyment of these), motherhood, queerness, and the everyday nature of academic life".