The Paradox of Anti-Intellectualism in Dark Academia

The subculture, aesthetic, and genre ‘Dark Academia’ romanticizes classical literature and academic life. However, it paradoxically contains elements of anti-intellectualism within its performative celebration of intellectualism. This paper explores how this paradox contributes to the commodification of books and the emergence of a specific readerly identity. By applying Richard Hofstadter’s theory of American anti-intellectualism, this paper relates the paradox to a broader cultural trend of prioritizing aesthetic over substance as exemplified by BookTok, a subcommunity on the social media platform TikTok. The discussion centers on Donna Tartt’s novel The Secret History as a primary example of the Dark Academia literary genre, revealing how its romanticization of academic life encourages elitism and exclusivity, yet ultimately critiques the superficial intellectualism present in both the subculture and real-life academia.