Read more
Frank Herbert's Dune is one of the most well-known science fiction novels of all time, and it is often revered alongside time-honored classics like The Lord of the Rings. Unlike Tolkien's work, the Dune series has received remarkably little academic attention. This collection includes fourteen new essays from various academic disciplines--including philosophy, political science, disability studies, Islamic theology, environmental studies, and Byzantine history--that examine all six of Herbert's Dune books. As a compendium, it asserts that a multidisciplinary approach to the texts can lead to fresh discoveries. Also included in this collection are an introduction by Tim O'Reilly, who authored one of the first critical appraisals of Herbert's writings in 1981, and a comprehensive bibliography of essential primary and secondary sources.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Foreword
Timothy O'Reilly
Introduction: "A beginning is a very delicate time..."
Dominic J. Nardi and N. Trevor Brierly
Part I. Politics and Power
Dune and the Metanarrative of Power
Edward John Royston
Political Prescience: How Game Theory Solves the Paradox of Foreknowledge
Dominic J. Nardi
"The greatest predator ever known": The Golden Path and Political Philosophy as Ecology
Michael Phillips
He Who Controls Knowledge Controls the Universe: Leto II and the Golden Path
Caroline Anne Womack
Part II. History and Religion
Frank Herbert's Byzantium: Medieval-Futurism and the Princess Historians Irulan and Anna Komnene
Maximilian Lau
Beside the Sand Dunes: Arab Futurism, Faith, and the Fremen of Dune
R. Ali
"A critical moment": The O.C. Bible in the Awakening of Paul Atreides
N. Trevor Brierly
Part III. Biology and Ecology
Locations of Deviance: A Eugenics Reading of Dune
Leigha High McReynolds
From Taming Sand Dunes to Planetary Ecology: Historical Perspectives on Environmental Thought and Politics in the Dune Saga
Paul Reef
Shifting Sands: Heroes, Power, and the Environment in the Dune Saga
Willow Wilson DiPasquale
Part IV. Philosophy, Choice, and Ethics
The Sands of Time: Dune and the Philosophy of Time
Nathaniel Goldberg
The Choices of Muad'Dib: Goods, Traditions, and Practices in the Dune Saga
Jeffery L. Nicholas
"I suggest you may be human": Humanity and Human Action in Dune
Curtis A. Weyant
Belief Is the Mind-Killer: The Bene Gesserit's Transcendental Pragmatism
Kevin Williams
Appendix: Bibliography of Scholarship
Dominic J. Nardi and N. Trevor Brierly
About the Contributors
Index
About the author
Dominic Nardi is a political scientist and has published academic articles about politics in Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, and Blade Runner. He lives in McLean, Virginia.N. Trevor Brierly is a literature scholar and software engineer living in Northern Virginia. He has published and presented on Dune, Tolkien, worldbuilding, Shakespeare, and Northrup Frye.
Summary
Presents fourteen essays from various academic disciplines - including philosophy, political science, disability studies, Islamic theology, environmental studies, and Byzantine history - that examine all six of Frank Herbert’s Dune books. As a compendium, it asserts that a multidisciplinary approach to the texts can lead to fresh discoveries.
