The haunting of classics in the Dark Academia aesthetic

Abstract

This article explores the online aesthetic ‘Dark Academia’ from the perspective of Classical reception. Dark Academia became popular during the COVID-19 era as an internet subculture revolving around bookishness, university culture, the Gothic, and the Classical. From its beginning as a Tumblr fandom around Donna Tartt’s The Secret History (1992), Dark Academia has grown to reach millions of followers worldwide across numerous social media platforms. This article argues that we can think of Dark Academia’s reception of Classics as a ‘haunting’ as defined by James Uden in Spectres of Antiquity (2020), made up of fragmentary, disconnected references — similar to the reception of Classics in Gothic literature. Dark Academia’s reception, however, is twofold: a reception of Classical antiquity itself, but also of the academic discipline of Classics. As such, the field is twice implicated. Classics must address Dark Academia both as a potential gateway for attracting interest in the ancient world, but also as another phenomenon that reflects and amplifies its own pernicious disciplinary legacy.