Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Abstract

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 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.

Extent

v, 74 p.

Comments

by Adella Irizarry.|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013.|Includes bibliography.|Mode of access: World Wide Web.|System requirements: Adobe Reader.|by Adella Irizarry.

Identifier

FADT3362377

Format

pdf

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