Islam and Dune

3 Credits.

What does a sci-fi novel from the mid-1960s, written by an eccentric journalist, and set in a far distant (and entirely imagined) future, have to say about our past, our present, and perhaps our future? As this course will demonstrate: quite a lot.In this seminar-style course we will explore how religion in general and Islam in particular informed the world of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novel Dune, laying particular emphasis on how the messianic, mystical, and occultist traditions within Islam pervade books 1 and 2 of the series. As we do so, we will interrogate and problematize the distinctions between science/magic, religion/politics, nature/culture, man/machine, and history/fiction that have defined secular modernity. We will also watch excerpts from the film adaptions by Denis Villeneuve. As we do so, we will also discuss questions of Orientalism, representation, adaption, and appropriation in both the books and the films.