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March 20, 2008

He who controls the Spice

Khalid Baheyeldin considers Arabic and Islamic themes in Frank Herbert's "Dune". This is a great addition to Dune studies; I am particularly delighted to learn the origin of the term "powindah". Shame Baheyeldin has not read the novels; terminology is important but it is Frank Herbert's peculiar representation of thought which distinguishes his writing. I would be curious to see what relationship, if any, Baheyeldin might find underlying the motivations of Dune's various factions and the naming conventions and language used to distinguish them. There is, for example, a strong hint of Alfred Korzybski in Herbert's work sitting alongside his interest in cybernetics and ecology; how to get from Arabic to General Semantics...

Dune is the most prominent example of how Islam and Arab cultures are used in Western Sci-Fi books. As a closing note, it seems that Frank Herbert was familiar with the Middle Eastern cultures, and the religion of Islam. Most of the terminology he used is not in its proper place. This may be due to him not being thoroughly familiar with it, or due to poetic license and adaptation to suit his novel. I would also guess that he was exposed to Shia Islam, where the term Mahdi has much more weight than in Sunni Islam. One cannot rule out Sufi influence as well. Arabic terms are used in many places as well.

Comments to the post are also worth a look.

On related and quasi-related notes: The oil must flow and Al Qaeda as a Dune Organization. Also, Norman Spinrad's introduction to the novel.

... like Stranger in a Strange Land only more so, Dune was a formative literary factor in the cultural revolution of the 1960s, and in a much more positive manner, which is why it is so generally and deliberately misread as a novel centered on "ecological" issues.

The truth is far more complex and, even today, far more politically incorrect, and therefore still far more politically dangerous.

I am not certain of the distinction Spinrad makes with "PC" and dangerous but he makes an interesting case for Herbert's choice of Islam as a religious template.

Update: Re-reading Baheyeldin's article I should note "baraka" (بركة) is also topical.

A living holy man of magical powers. In Arabic, this word means 'blessings'. It can be used as an adjective for people who are pious, considered blessed, or can bestow blessings on others.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at March 20, 2008 06:47 AM

Comments

Spinrad is stretching it a bit with his drug interpretation of the story. It seems his fondness for his experience with hallucinogens is influencing his analysis (no pun intended). He's not unlike environmentalists erroneously seeing ecology as the central theme. I could just as easily argue that the book is about Taoist transformation and kung-fu given spice's resemblance to an elixir and the importance of physical & mental exercises and physiological control for Paul's powers. Dune has a multitude of themes of which these are only a few.

Posted by: Varenius [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 20, 2008 01:44 PM

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