Queering Dark Academia within a New Adult Fiction Context

Presented by: Shaun Stephen

Date: Friday 12 August 2022
Time: 12–1pm
Location: Hybrid (Online via Zoom and in-person at the SCA Writer's Studio (Level 6, Michie Building))


Abstract

This presentation will investigate the popular sub-genre of dark academia (DA) and argue its clear overlap with queer themes and the emerging new-adult (NA) literary category. As Saika notes, “Dark Academia is a genre of literature that literally revolves around academia and learning. Therefore, you will see that it is mostly set in educational institutions and follows the lives of students. [And like the term suggests, it] … is dark at a deeper psychological level. The characters often are corrupt aesthetes … what you would call … sociopathic or psychopathic but most often narcissistic” (1). The DA genre showcases when college is not such a ‘safe haven’ through its use of the Gothic.  

The presentation will explore themes/content such as identity, alienation, obsession, pursuit of (forbidden) knowledge, found family, monstrosity and trauma through an analysis of three queer DA exemplars: The Secret History (1992) by Donna Tartt, If We Were Villains (2017) by M.L. Rio and These Violent Delights (2020) by Micah Nemerever. This exploration will address some of the weaknesses inherent within DA—weak depictions of diverse protagonists i.e., LGBTQ+ characters.


Presenter

Shaun Stephen has a Masters in Writing, Editing & Publishing (2020) at University of Queensland (UQ) and is currently undertaking a MPhil in Creative Writing at UQ. The creative piece is called Lost Boys, a queer DA novella set at Juilliard NYC during the 1980s Aids epidemic.


 

About Research Seminar and Workshop Series

 


School of Communication and Arts Research Seminar Series

The research seminar and workshop series occur each semester, each with a different topic and guest speaker from UQ or otherwise.

Friday, 4 August
12-1pm

Hybrid: Online via Zoom and in person at the
SCA Writer's Studio
(Level 6, Michie)

After the Future: Heat, Collapse, and Exhausting the “Future of Work”

Dr Luke Munn

Friday, 25 August
12-1pm

Hybrid: Online via Zoom and in person at the
SCA Writer's Studio
(Level 6, Michie)

Promoting children’s environmental responsibility in the EFL classroomDr Valentina Adami

Friday, 1 September
12-1pm

Hybrid: Online via Zoom and in person at the
SCA Writer's Studio
(Level 6, Michie)

Write FOR your reader vs. writing WITH your reader: human-centred design in professional communication

and

Portraying Asian-diasporic identity beyond the limits of the literary label Asian-Australian

Catriona Arthy

and

Olivia De Zilva

Friday, 8 September
12-1pm

Hybrid: Online via Zoom and in person at the
SCA Writer's Studio
(Level 6, Michie)

Exploring Digital Humanities through the Lens of Journalism: A Case Study of Reader Comment Analysis

Dr Lujain Shafeeq

Friday, 15 September
12-1pm

Hybrid: Online via Zoom and in person at the
SCA Writer's Studio
(Level 6, Michie)

The Medicalised Body - On Illness, Humour, and Sexuality

and

Talkin about the thing that stops me writing about the thing Im talkin about: Hacking and Hofstadter on the looping effect of diagnostic labels and writing the strange double

Carly-Jay Metcalfe and Bianca Millroy

Friday, 22 September
12-1pm

Hybrid: Online via Zoom and in person at the
SCA Writer's Studio
(Level 6, Michie)

Coping with eco-anxiety: A guided journal trialDr Ans Vercammen and Dr Skye Doherty

 

Venue

Online via Zoom and in-person at the SCA Writer's Studio (Level 6, Michie Building)