Current Search: Caribbean Area (x) » Controversial literature (x) » Dune. (x)
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Title
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The amtal rule: testing to define in Frank Herbert's Dune.
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Creator
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Irizarry, Adella., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
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Abstract/Description
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In this project, I focus on the function of the "amtal" or test of definition or destruction, in Frank Herbert's Dune. It is my argument that these tests "to destruction" determine not only the limits or defects of the person being tested, but also - and more crucially - the very limits and defects of the definition of humanity in three specific cultural spheres within the novel: the Bene Gesserit, the Fremen, and the Faufreluches. The definitions of "amtal" as well as "humanity," like all...
Show moreIn this project, I focus on the function of the "amtal" or test of definition or destruction, in Frank Herbert's Dune. It is my argument that these tests "to destruction" determine not only the limits or defects of the person being tested, but also - and more crucially - the very limits and defects of the definition of humanity in three specific cultural spheres within the novel: the Bene Gesserit, the Fremen, and the Faufreluches. The definitions of "amtal" as well as "humanity," like all definitions, are somewhat fluid, changing depending on usage, cultural context, and the political and social needs of the society which uses them. Accordingly, Dune remains an instructive text for thinking through contemporary and controversial notions about the limits of humanism and, consequently, of animalism and posthumanism.
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Date Issued
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2013
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3362377
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Subject Headings
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Criticism and interpretation, Dune (Imaginary place), Philosophy, Philosophy in literature, Humanism
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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Title
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Religious violence in Frank Herbert's Dune series.
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Creator
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Howard, Kenton Taylor., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
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Abstract/Description
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This thesis examines the first two novels of Frank Herbert's Dune series, Dune and Dune Messiah, in order to consider these two novels from the framework of postcolonial theory and analyze how religious violence becomes a source of subjugation, military power, and colonialism within the works. The three chapters of this thesis chart the creation of a colonial project through epistemic violence, physical power, and cultural control enabled by religion. This thesis argues that, in the Dune...
Show moreThis thesis examines the first two novels of Frank Herbert's Dune series, Dune and Dune Messiah, in order to consider these two novels from the framework of postcolonial theory and analyze how religious violence becomes a source of subjugation, military power, and colonialism within the works. The three chapters of this thesis chart the creation of a colonial project through epistemic violence, physical power, and cultural control enabled by religion. This thesis argues that, in the Dune novels, religious violence functions as a colonial project that closely resembles the goals of real-world colonial enterprises, and the failure to manage this colonial project by those who initiated it shows that the effects of colonial projects based on religious violence are dangerous and uncontrollable.
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Date Issued
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2012
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3355558
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Subject Headings
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Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Science fiction, American, Criticism and interpretation, Dune (Imaginary place), Violence, Religious aspects, Violence in literature
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Format
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Document (PDF)
