A look into English major aesthetics and how it’s a major lifestyle!

By: Angelina Salvador

An aesthetically pleasing grid of numerous book photos from a book account on Instagram. Credit: Instagram.com account: @deexreads

If you’re an English major, or curious about the world of those who dedicate their lives to literature and the aesthetics of it, then you’re in the right place. The aesthetic goes beyond just pictures, even though they’re extremely pleasing. 

Life as an English major and the beauty of living as one (even beyond college) is the effort we put into the style. Although it doesn’t necessarily mean the lifestyle is strictly about the looks, each person has their way of living and expressing themselves. 

Book lovers (like myself) who are majoring in either literature or writing, love to collect, read, and talk endlessly about them. Truly, there are way too many books and such little time for us to read them all, and somehow we let our-to-be-read pile up! 

We dedicate our lives to being lovers of literature. This is seen through Instagram book accounts known as “bookstagrams” and Tumblr, where people take beautiful photographs of their books with other various essentials in an English major’s life: coffee, pets, blankets, candles, and bookshelves. 

People like Diana Arena (known as deexreads on Instagram) push it further from school to their everyday life. Posting photos with captions about the books they read and how it makes them feel, really makes the aesthetic bigger than it is. 

Every other day on Arena’s bookstagram, she snaps the perfect photo and even edits them to her aesthetic. Also by being interactive by asking questions to followers and creating conversations about the books, it reaches many people. 

When the word aesthetic pops up, Tumblr probably comes to mind because the website made the word a popular concept due to the way people have started presenting them. Pictures like the one from Arena’s bookstagram are a perfect example. 

There are many types of styles in the English world on social media (and real-life), like Arena’s. Her feed consists of calm vibes with a neutral tone in the photos. Whether it’s one book or a pile of books, the background consists of opened books showing their pages, which really makes her aesthetic perfect. 

How exactly are they a lifestyle, you ask? It’s simply because when we open a book, we step into a new world, a place where we can imagine the unimaginable and escape from reality for however long we want. It is much more than just a picture you see on your feed(s).

The aesthetics go further than just the way the books perfectly look in a photo. It’s about setting up routines like reading from the to-be-read pile, sitting in the perfect environment, and even wearing outfits that make us feel good. 

Most people question, do we read the books we post about? Or is it all for the perfect social media post? That’s where it gets interesting. We do both! 

As writers and readers, whether it’s in school or in our everyday lives, there are principles people follow such as being critical towards art and even theory. 

Besides all of the expressive photos being posted, it goes beyond that. People dedicate their lives to this aesthetic and engaging with others and even sticking with philosophies they learn about when reading literature is ingrained in their lives.

Critical thinking inside the classroom when discussing an author’s work comes in handy to people in the English world of aesthetics. Our world revolves around literature.

The books, the environment, and the styles we embrace makes us who we are. Social media has become a substantial way for people to display their personalities and openly talk about their opinions on characters, books, and how we can apply things we learn in new stories to reality. 

Aesthetics as an English major also helps us feel good. Whether it is through the lens of a camera to capture our overflowing bookshelves, or our outlook on life. Being an English major is more than just our future careers.

English major aesthetics is an irresistible, whirlwind of a lifestyle.