Frank Herbert's Climate and Ecological Dune
How ‘Dune’ became a beacon for a fledgling environmental movement
With Denis Vielneuve’s stunning cinematic Dune 2 currently in cinemas it is worth recalling that the original Frank Herbert’s Dune as a piece of literacy was a beacon for the environmental movement in the late 1960s into early 70s. It would probably be classified as Cli-Fi (climate fiction) rather than sci-fi today, telling as it did a story of an environmental crisis on earth that would drive ecological catastrophe.
As a teenager in the 70s Dune alongside the other influential ‘science fiction’, the works of Asimov, Tolkien and Ursula Le Guin were staple reading, fitting well with the progressive music scene of that time.
Released in the same period as Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Herbert based Dune on indigenous wisdom and stewardship practices, not so much on science. Yet Dune also become, as Devin Grittiths in the Conversation notes, “a rallying cry for the new science of ecology”
The Fremen of “Dune,” who live in the deserts of Arrakis and carefully manage its ecosystem and wildlife, embody these teachings. In the fight to save their world, they expertly blend ecological science and Indigenous practices. (Devin Grittiths)
Herbert talked at the first Earth Day event in 1970 (co-organised by Denis Hayes) and a feature in Stuart Brand's first edition of The Whole Earth Catalogue. (Interestingly both Denis Hayes and Stuart Brand went on to become influential in the built environment with the Bullitt Center and Building Layers/How Buildings Learn respectively)
Has the environmental critique in Dune become too nuanced or blunted for today's audience? We don't see it as being celebrated for climate messaging today as it seems to have resonated back then.
Regen/ Notes is thriving on recommendations and sharing so feel free to share. Thank You.
The article from Devin Grittiths in the Conversation is a good read, and for those who followed/follow the Dune saga, Devin concludes “Villeneuve has suggested that he might also adapt “Dune Messiah” for his next film in the series – a novel in which the ecological damage to Arrakis is glaringly obvious. I hope Herbert’s prescient ecological warning, which resonated so powerfully with readers back in the 1960s, will be unsheathed in “Dune 3.”