If you’ve been on the bookish side of the internet for long enough, you’ve most likely come across the sub-genre Dark Academia. Popular as both a literary sub-genre and fashion aesthetic, Dark Academia has inspired other “academias” including the seasonally appropriate Light Academia. As a newly emerging sub-genre, Light Academia is finding its style. Let’s breakdown what we do know of Light Academia and the differences between Light and Dark Academia.
Light vs. Dark Academia
Light Academia is making flower crowns as you study for spring midterm, innocent campus fun, nostalgia, and the college friendships you’ll continue to cultivate into adulthood. Forget all the broken hearts and bad grades — Light Academia is about everything warm and enjoyable about student life, but in soft earth tones. The books that best capture the spirit of Light Academia aren’t necessarily school/student themed. The growth of friendships and self-development are more important in Light Academia.
The student characters of Light Academia may be intelligent, but not driven by hubris, greed, or vengeance. Learning, for the Light Academic, is a pleasure and education is a prize. The stuffy, oft Eurocentric Dark Academia catalogue is swapped for visual arts, music, and world literature. Visually and thematically, Light and Dark academia lie on opposite sides of the spectrum. While Dark Academia focuses on bleak literary themes of oppression, death, and existentialism, light academia focuses on themes of friendship, resourcefulness, joy, and the beauty of life.
The aesthetic of Light Academia is nearly identical to Dark Academia, with only the brightness turned up. Think light, earth toned shades. Tweeds and ties, fluffy white dresses and ribbons, vintage knits, classical statues, bouquets of wild flowers, and stacks of worn leather books. Imagery of coziness and domesticity feature heavily in these books — a squashy couch with sleeping kittens, freshly baked bread, paint splatters, and floral tea cups. Now that we’ve covered the basics, here’s a few Light Academia books to get your bookshelf started.
Little Women by Louisa May AlcottMany 19th century classics are considered Light academia, despite not taking place within the four walls of a schoolhouse. Alcott’s original Little Women ( and its subsequent adaptations and retellings) fit nicely into the warmth and friendship-focused Light Academia. The March sisters spend time in various types of schooling, from homeschooling, to strict school houses with a bustling lime trade, to working as a private tutor. As girls, the sisters enhance their education by acting out the part of English Gentlemen of the Pickwick Club, and participating in charity work. As adults, the girls’ education supports their specific interests — Meg with her homemaking, Jo with her writing, and Amy with her art. Little Women remains a staple of both American literature and the Light Academia aesthetic because of its enduring coziness and individual approach to education. |
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