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The university as a microcosm of society and a place where minds and ambitions often collide has been a popular topic with writers from all around the world. Since it came into vogue in the 1950s, the campus novel has offered a full social history of the university, as well as a political and psychological guide to the academic profession. Questions of class, infighting, feminism, and political correctness can be found in practically any work of the genre.
In recent years, a variation of the genre has become increasingly popular via social media: Dark Academia is not simply an aesthetic but has been turned into a lifestyle that romanticizes academic life, heavily leaning on elements such as old libraries, traditional college buildings and a specific wardrobe.
This seminar will start out by analysing the general notion that every society has the university it deserves and will also focus on the idiosyncrasies of various professorial stereotypes in literature. From there we will move on to explore the new trend of dark academia and discuss shorter texts and two novels that have strongly shaped this category. We shall also try to ascertain why the dark academia aesthetic seems so appealing from a cultural perspective.
Excerpts from various "traditional" campus novels will be made available via Moodle at the beginning of term. However, students are asked to obtain their own copies of
Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and
R.F. Kuang’s Babel
Please note that this is a seminar for avid readers who are willing to put in the work. This involves a relatively heavy reading load, so please keep this in mind when signing up. |
