Approaching the ecofeminist perspective in Frank Herbert'sDune (1965): nature, nomadic subjectivity, and environmental awareness

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14198/PANGEAS.24696

Keywords:

Gender studies, environmental philosophy, ecological science fiction, climate crisis, feminist nomadic subjectivity, Dune, Herbert, Frank

Abstract

This article analyses the different and diverse elements that make Frank Herbert's novel Dune (1965) not only the first ecological science fiction novel, but also a key work within environmental studies and ecology in the 1960s in the United States. Under this parameter, this academic essay addresses its reconceptualization in an ecofeminist perspective through the trope of the desert and the natural elements of water and spice as symbols that criticise anthropocentric human behaviour towards the environment and promote environmental awareness among the population. To this end, the study of the desert by Catrin Gersdorf and the considerations on water by Baston Bachelard and Vandana Shiva will be essential, advocating the creation of a policy of action-reflection through ethical commitment, solidarity with the environment and the conservation of the different natural systems and cycles. Eventually, the methodology employed aims to find a meeting point in Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's philosophical exploration of the nomadic subject as a form of resistance to socio-economic domination and an active and reactive agent with the territory throughout the second volume of their collaborative work Capitalisme et Schizophrénie (1972). Therefore, it seeks to reformulate this thought in the light of contemporary ecofeminist theory carried out by Rosi Braidotti and Carolina Meloni, with the aim of rescuing the Deleuze-Guattarian current of thought towards a new feminist nomadic theory applied to the border space, thus developing a sustainable and inclusive political, ethical and ecological awareness for all social groups and species.

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Published

29-09-2023

How to Cite

Pardo Prado, S. (2023) “Approaching the ecofeminist perspective in Frank Herbert’sDune (1965): nature, nomadic subjectivity, and environmental awareness”, Pangeas. Revista Interdisciplinar de Ecocrítica, (5), pp. 7–27. doi: 10.14198/PANGEAS.24696.

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Section

Miscellaneous