“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”
— Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
be up front and honest about the things you do not know
acknowledge the intrinsic value of others’ knowledge bases, even if they do not seem important to you from your institutional context
do not feign mastery where you have none
respect the gaps in others’ knowledge bases
be generous, not only with others
but also with yourself
you overwork yourself at the risk of legitimizing a culture of overwork
privilege voices and perspectives that have historically been left out of the academy
nothing is ever neutral or apolitical
support the progress of other scholars
collaboration over competition
shoutout to hedonism. get naked and eat cheese
a human heart cost $442,000 & I gave you mine for free you ungrateful bitch
if cannibalism in media has a million fans, im one of them
if metaphors using cannibalism has 5 fans, im one of them
if art of cannibalism has 1 fan, that one is me
if descriptions of cannibalism has no fans, i am no longer alive
if the world is against cannibalism i am against the world
dear gods just imagine the stories of women in a dark academia setting.
women with squared off shoulders that strut down the hallways as if they have the whole world at their hands. women playing the male roles in the plays. women adjusting their jacket before storming off. women gently putting on red lipstick with a bloodied hand. women with hunched shoulders and dark eyes frantically reading a book, because they cant get enough of it. women with a secret just poised on their lips if the perfect arch. women with messy hair and disheveled looks stumbling into class. women seducing everyone around them with their raspy voices. women having everyone’s attention with their soft voices. women knowing how to handle blood. women knowing how the plan things perfectly. women reciting poetry over a fresh grave. women with their arms linked running across campus, their laughs rising above the quiet of the night. women tasting like strawberry wine and the faintest hint of whisky. women helping women when things go wrong. just women in the dark academia genre where they aren’t used as the lust interest in the room.
If joe was your favorite Jonas, you’re bisexual now
Cultural Dark Academia
After my last post about the lack of representation in academia, I felt it neccessary to provide some examples of what I’m talking about. Obviously there are more countries in the world than I can list and provide books for, so for a quick list this is what I got. !! Keep researching !! If you have any more books by POC please reply them !! If a country isn’t listed, that doesn’t mean it’s not important, this is just what I could get together real quick. If I made any mistakes, please let me know, we’re all learning. We need to help each other end eurocentrism in academia, so value representation and educate yourselves 💓💓💓
Chinese:
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
The Dream of the Red Chamber
The Water Margin
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The Journey to the West
The Scholars
The Peony Pavilion
Border Town by Congwen Shen
Half of Man is Woman by Zhang Xianliang
To Live by Yu Hua
Ten Years of Madness by agent Jicai
The Field of Life and Death & Tales of Hulan River by Xiao Hong
Japanese:
A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oë
Pakistani:
Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
Ghulam Bagh by Mirza Athar Baig
Masterpieces of Urdu Nazm by K. C. Kanda
Irani/Persian:
Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji
Savushun by Simin Daneshvar
Anything by Rumi
The Book of Kings by Ferdowsi
The Rubiyat by Omar Khayyam
Shahnameh (translation by Dick Davis)
Afghan:
Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Indian:
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Aithihyamala, Garland of Legends by Kottarathil Sankunni
The Gameworld Trilogy by Samir Basu
Filipino:
Twice Blessed by Ninotchka Rosca
The Last Time I Saw Mother by Arlene J. Chai
Brazilian:
Night at the Tavern by Álvares de Azevedo
The Seven by André Vianco
Don Casmurro by Machado de Assis
Portuguese:
The Lusiads by Camões
Columbian:
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Delirio by Laura Restrepo
¡Que viva la música! by Andrés Caicedo
The Sound of Things Falling by Jim Gabriel Vásquez
Mexican:
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolf Anaya
Adonis Garcia/El Vampiro de la Colonia Roma by Luis Zapata
El Complot Mongol by Rafael Bernal
Egyptian:
The Cairo Trilogy by Nahuib Mahfouz
The Book of the Dead
Nigerian:
Rosewater by Tade Thompson
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Malian:
The Epic of Sundiata
Senegalese:
Poetry of Senghor
Native American:
The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King
Starlight by Richard Wagamese
Almanac of the Dead by L. Silko
Fools Crow by James Welch
Australian Aborigine:
Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
First Footprints by Scott Cane
My Place by Sally Morgan
American//Modern:
Real Life by Brandon Taylor
Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Internment by Samir’s Ahmed
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurtson
Rivers of London Series by Ben Aaronovitch
Ana Sanchez - Death and the Maiden
bring back homeric epithets. call people brave-hearted, swift-footed, laughter loving and loud thundering. view the world with its rosy fingered and saffron robed dawns, its wine dark seas. make your own, walk across kiln fired earth and moss soft as sea sponges. be dew-eyed and soft-cheeked and silver-souled, deft-fingered and bright-tongued. gaze up at the many-storied stars and feel the warmth of the ancient sun, father of gods and men, as it beats down on the shimmering world, soft spun like caterpillar silk
everyone from my high school is living their best lives. i, on the other hand, became an anarchist