I want to live in a castle. It is my lifelong dream. There are castles and estates for sale but financially out of reach. I have studied castle construction, their history, and development. The early castles were motte and bailey. Relatively cheap, simple, easy and quick to build. I just need land and a few strong backs. The footprint of a motte and bailey is only a few acres. The rest of the property would usually be farmland and pasture with water and woods nearby also essential.
Then you must acquire your castle the old fashioned way, by storming one. With an army. Throw the current tenants off the battlements for extra authenticity.
However, I’m not quite so sure Dark Academia and the many other aesthetics (Light Academia, Cottage Core, etc.) on Tumblr and other online platforms represent some hidden longing for elitist spaces.
I honestly think it’s more of a longing for *beautiful* spaces -- interior as well as exterior -- as a gut reaction to the aesthetics of the current post-industrial, brutalist, conveyor-belt age. A longing for more beauty (of the traditional kind) in our everyday lives and a slower pace of life.
The desire for beautiful spaces is itself a step in the right direction, a visceral revulsion against the all-pervasive ugliness of the contemporary world.
Unfortunately it’s not enough. People have vicariously enoyed beautiful spaces in fiction for decades.
There needs to be an effort I think to convince people that the aesthetics they enjoy in fiction *should* is a sign that these things do matter to our spiritual health and they should be enjoyed in real life, rather than via escapism.
Americans and Canadians alike will fork out thousands of dollars to spend a week in a beautiful old city. Then they come home and scream bloody murder if a penny of their taxes beautifies a public space. Hence our common spaces look (and feel) like depression factories.
Agreed, I’ve seen what passes for public art in Boston. Like that weird arm statue that looks likes grotesque from a distance.
Luckily we still have the Museum of Fine Arts. While working as a TA in my local school I did try to convince the faculty to consider as a field trip option for the kids.
Artistic expression reflects the soul, thus the ugliness of our times is a reflection of the postmodern progressive soul (if it could be said to have one). By all means, be an appreciator of aesthetics, but these problems won't get better until we strike at their root. Ultimately, we need to destroy & rebuild.
I agree. As with everything in 2023, it's about the visual trappings, not the actual substance. The same people who want to go to Hogwarts are not capable of making it through Little Women.
Something I notice a lot. High ceilings... just watched Napoleon and the beauty of the rooms, even the most stark and drab put our modern lodgings to shame for their sheer aesthetic beauty.
"You are Slytherin because you like dark aesthetics and heavily value status. I am Slytherin because I desire Total Muggle Death. We are not the same."
Nov 29, 2023·edited Nov 29, 2023Liked by Johann Kurtz
Today’s universities are too woke and politically correct. Rather than superficial identity politics, they ought to be teaching Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and the great minds who make the West worth preserving. This is the real reason for dark academia; people are hungry for an authentic classical education.
there's an inescapable and pervasive sadness about the whole Tumblr aesthetic subculture, of which Dark Academia is just one example. the common denominator i see in all of them is a longing for agency. the elitism is a byproduct of the underlying fantasy, which is to be somebody who's recognized for doing important intellectual work: you can cosplay as a person who Knows Things, has read the Big Books and gained access to a kind of academic occultism, even if you're really just a regular wage slave with a mundane service job. ostensibly, this knowledge has given you a special place and a purpose in the world (or at least the financial security to buy all those expensive tweeds). just as cottagecore is built around the fantasy of being someone with the means to own a cottage, Dark Academia is a fantasy of having important, fulfilling work to do—plumbing the depths of all those shadowy mysteries—and living in a society where you're provided with the material resources to do it. in real life, for the vast majority of non-wealthy people, studying the Classics is a one-way ticket to poverty—just like owning a pastoral cottage with a vegetable garden is now a hobby for rich people, rather than an accessible livelihood for the working class. but people still cling to the aesthetics because they can't access that agency in real life, even though they crave it.
Interesting - I see it almost as the opposite. Both the quaint cottage and the nooks and crannies of an old castle represent an escape from anyone relying on you. This doesn't emphasize agency, recognition, or importance as much as an escape from any pressure whatsoever
Interesting stuff about the libidinal forces at work on the fringes of our culture but the Dark Academia phenomenon seems like the latest, greatly diluted, derivative of Romanticism. Like Romanticism itself it is an aesthetic reaction to the disappointment and disenchantment of modernity. As the mass middle class of the West disintegrates the longing for alternative lifestyles and relief from pauperisation, exploitation and insecurity grows.
The craving for the exceptional, the obscure and the refined will always exist and the relevant parties will adjust their marketing strategies appropriately.
The reception of Donna Tartt's novel by fans of Dark Academia brings to mind the popularity of BRIDESHEAD REVISITED in the 80s. Quite a few youngsters in the Ivy League took an interest in the subject matter and aesthetic but were often only familiar with it through the TV series, not the book itself. It is all a reminder of how shallow and performative everything has become.
I dropped out of university because I didn't like postmodern philosophy, and took a detour in Occultism before finding light in Julius Evola's books. Long story short, I love this way of restoring true wisdom and traditional beauty.
Oh yeah, there’s lots of Stoic self-help stuff on YouTube. Stoic advice for dating, relationships, making money, lifting weights at the gym, anxiety and depression—you name it. But a lot of this stuff is not “real” Stoicism. if you want something more official and academic, I would strongly recommend Greg Sadler’s YouTube channel.
I think part of this urge is private spaces. Everything now has to be inclusive. There are fewer mens clubs because women invaded them. I think this is something people yearn for. A private or exclusive space they don't need to justify.
It's quite amazing to see how the intentional timelessness of modernity has failed so thoroughly that even those that profess to love modernity the most can't help but have a visceral craving for the esthetic of the truly timeless. Post-history drives even its most faithful adherents into the waiting arms of history.
Lots of interesting ideas to work with here. While I'm not sure that loving Harry Potter and a tendency to favour more gothic, nostalgic aesthetics is in-and-of-itself a sign that a woman is a secret aristocrat (and indeed, if the idea were broached to one who is she would wholeheartedly deny it), it's hard to disagree with the idea that these brands are notably popular with those women who have the nobility of spirit to intuit that something is not right today - even when their senses and everything else tells them that everything is fine.
The Slytherin-sonnenrad parallel, however, is spot on.
Beautiful and hopeful essay. The human spirit can be suppressed but not eliminated. The images are magnificent. It is what we are made for and can only be denied for so long.
All of the worlds problems begin, and end, in the ability to sit quietly in a room and contemplate one's brilliance. What people ultimately long for I believe, is this same ability to sit in peace and quiet, in a room of their choosing, that allows them to express their individual, creative talents to the ultimate degree. We have the power of Oxford in each of us, but must be willing to sit down and select books, rather than elect mainstream novels like Harry Potter.
I love your thought process and psychological insights Johann.
You no doubt were a liberal arts Psychology major? I jest.
Hundreds of thousands want to sit among cold stone walls, to write essays on obscure and esoteric subjects, and to suffer and be beautiful for it.
I need a castle to write Becoming Noble from (Peter Thiel are you listening)
I want to live in a castle. It is my lifelong dream. There are castles and estates for sale but financially out of reach. I have studied castle construction, their history, and development. The early castles were motte and bailey. Relatively cheap, simple, easy and quick to build. I just need land and a few strong backs. The footprint of a motte and bailey is only a few acres. The rest of the property would usually be farmland and pasture with water and woods nearby also essential.
I hope you realize your dream, it is a good one
Then you must acquire your castle the old fashioned way, by storming one. With an army. Throw the current tenants off the battlements for extra authenticity.
There are plenty in Scotland, so help yourself 😜
There are more castles in Germany than McDonalds in America (as long as you include ruins)
But then she'd have the tedious job of forcing the natives to speak English. All those hangings to encourage the others. It gets messy.
Careful with those prepositions, sir ... Grammar is part of beauty ...
This is all I ask out of life, to be honest.
Great article!
However, I’m not quite so sure Dark Academia and the many other aesthetics (Light Academia, Cottage Core, etc.) on Tumblr and other online platforms represent some hidden longing for elitist spaces.
I honestly think it’s more of a longing for *beautiful* spaces -- interior as well as exterior -- as a gut reaction to the aesthetics of the current post-industrial, brutalist, conveyor-belt age. A longing for more beauty (of the traditional kind) in our everyday lives and a slower pace of life.
The desire for beautiful spaces is itself a step in the right direction, a visceral revulsion against the all-pervasive ugliness of the contemporary world.
Unfortunately it’s not enough. People have vicariously enoyed beautiful spaces in fiction for decades.
There needs to be an effort I think to convince people that the aesthetics they enjoy in fiction *should* is a sign that these things do matter to our spiritual health and they should be enjoyed in real life, rather than via escapism.
We would always like to see people do more of what we think they should be doing.
If you make the effort to move people from escapism to enjoyment of similar things in real life, you have my best wishes for your success.
I say this with no sarcasm.
Not sure how you would do it.
Americans and Canadians alike will fork out thousands of dollars to spend a week in a beautiful old city. Then they come home and scream bloody murder if a penny of their taxes beautifies a public space. Hence our common spaces look (and feel) like depression factories.
No one trusts the government with more money. They will just build monstrosities.
Maybe it needs be private homes first. But you will be stopped by homeowners associations ...
OK, start with interiors and backyards ...
Agreed, I’ve seen what passes for public art in Boston. Like that weird arm statue that looks likes grotesque from a distance.
Luckily we still have the Museum of Fine Arts. While working as a TA in my local school I did try to convince the faculty to consider as a field trip option for the kids.
Artistic expression reflects the soul, thus the ugliness of our times is a reflection of the postmodern progressive soul (if it could be said to have one). By all means, be an appreciator of aesthetics, but these problems won't get better until we strike at their root. Ultimately, we need to destroy & rebuild.
I agree. As with everything in 2023, it's about the visual trappings, not the actual substance. The same people who want to go to Hogwarts are not capable of making it through Little Women.
Something I notice a lot. High ceilings... just watched Napoleon and the beauty of the rooms, even the most stark and drab put our modern lodgings to shame for their sheer aesthetic beauty.
High ceilings help with air circulation and temperature regulation, especially in winter. Form follows function.
"You are Slytherin because you like dark aesthetics and heavily value status. I am Slytherin because I desire Total Muggle Death. We are not the same."
Today’s universities are too woke and politically correct. Rather than superficial identity politics, they ought to be teaching Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and the great minds who make the West worth preserving. This is the real reason for dark academia; people are hungry for an authentic classical education.
there's an inescapable and pervasive sadness about the whole Tumblr aesthetic subculture, of which Dark Academia is just one example. the common denominator i see in all of them is a longing for agency. the elitism is a byproduct of the underlying fantasy, which is to be somebody who's recognized for doing important intellectual work: you can cosplay as a person who Knows Things, has read the Big Books and gained access to a kind of academic occultism, even if you're really just a regular wage slave with a mundane service job. ostensibly, this knowledge has given you a special place and a purpose in the world (or at least the financial security to buy all those expensive tweeds). just as cottagecore is built around the fantasy of being someone with the means to own a cottage, Dark Academia is a fantasy of having important, fulfilling work to do—plumbing the depths of all those shadowy mysteries—and living in a society where you're provided with the material resources to do it. in real life, for the vast majority of non-wealthy people, studying the Classics is a one-way ticket to poverty—just like owning a pastoral cottage with a vegetable garden is now a hobby for rich people, rather than an accessible livelihood for the working class. but people still cling to the aesthetics because they can't access that agency in real life, even though they crave it.
Interesting - I see it almost as the opposite. Both the quaint cottage and the nooks and crannies of an old castle represent an escape from anyone relying on you. This doesn't emphasize agency, recognition, or importance as much as an escape from any pressure whatsoever
Interesting stuff about the libidinal forces at work on the fringes of our culture but the Dark Academia phenomenon seems like the latest, greatly diluted, derivative of Romanticism. Like Romanticism itself it is an aesthetic reaction to the disappointment and disenchantment of modernity. As the mass middle class of the West disintegrates the longing for alternative lifestyles and relief from pauperisation, exploitation and insecurity grows.
The craving for the exceptional, the obscure and the refined will always exist and the relevant parties will adjust their marketing strategies appropriately.
The reception of Donna Tartt's novel by fans of Dark Academia brings to mind the popularity of BRIDESHEAD REVISITED in the 80s. Quite a few youngsters in the Ivy League took an interest in the subject matter and aesthetic but were often only familiar with it through the TV series, not the book itself. It is all a reminder of how shallow and performative everything has become.
Yes, agree on all points
What we need is Dark Academia music and fashion. Let’s go full subculture with it.
BTW, the Sheila Metzner fashion photo is mesmerizing. It does not quite go with the essay, but who cares?
Agreed, that is one awesome photo!
I dropped out of university because I didn't like postmodern philosophy, and took a detour in Occultism before finding light in Julius Evola's books. Long story short, I love this way of restoring true wisdom and traditional beauty.
Beauty is THE most powerful weapon. If what we write is not sexy/attractive we might aswell give up. Nice article.
Thank you!
Hadn't heard of Dark Academia but I wish it well. Have any prominent names emerged yet?
Ryan Holiday of Daily Stoic maybe? Stoicism seems to be getting a lot of attention in pop culture these days.
Thanks I'll take a look.
Oh yeah, there’s lots of Stoic self-help stuff on YouTube. Stoic advice for dating, relationships, making money, lifting weights at the gym, anxiety and depression—you name it. But a lot of this stuff is not “real” Stoicism. if you want something more official and academic, I would strongly recommend Greg Sadler’s YouTube channel.
I think part of this urge is private spaces. Everything now has to be inclusive. There are fewer mens clubs because women invaded them. I think this is something people yearn for. A private or exclusive space they don't need to justify.
It's quite amazing to see how the intentional timelessness of modernity has failed so thoroughly that even those that profess to love modernity the most can't help but have a visceral craving for the esthetic of the truly timeless. Post-history drives even its most faithful adherents into the waiting arms of history.
Lots of interesting ideas to work with here. While I'm not sure that loving Harry Potter and a tendency to favour more gothic, nostalgic aesthetics is in-and-of-itself a sign that a woman is a secret aristocrat (and indeed, if the idea were broached to one who is she would wholeheartedly deny it), it's hard to disagree with the idea that these brands are notably popular with those women who have the nobility of spirit to intuit that something is not right today - even when their senses and everything else tells them that everything is fine.
The Slytherin-sonnenrad parallel, however, is spot on.
Beautiful and hopeful essay. The human spirit can be suppressed but not eliminated. The images are magnificent. It is what we are made for and can only be denied for so long.
Thank you
All of the worlds problems begin, and end, in the ability to sit quietly in a room and contemplate one's brilliance. What people ultimately long for I believe, is this same ability to sit in peace and quiet, in a room of their choosing, that allows them to express their individual, creative talents to the ultimate degree. We have the power of Oxford in each of us, but must be willing to sit down and select books, rather than elect mainstream novels like Harry Potter.
I love your thought process and psychological insights Johann.
You no doubt were a liberal arts Psychology major? I jest.
Thank you! Thankfully I didn't study psychology, which given their ongoing replication crisis would have been quite unsound