Abstract

Frank Herbert’s Dune series has been analyzed with regard to various issues, such as politics, ecology and religion. Its legal aspects have been neglected so far. Contrary to the seemingly common perception that law does not play a significant role in Dune, this article will first show that law is indeed ubiquitous in Dune and shapes the narrative in important ways. Dune develops different legal cultures: a cynical rule by law in the Imperium and an earnest rule of law among the native Fremen. It reflects on the limits of law in a way that is heavily influenced by a type of collective determinism first developed in Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, a source of inspiration that has not been noticed until now. Dune reflects a profound distrust of organized authority. Ultimately, it undervalues the fact that law can serve to prevent abuse of power. But to do so, the law needs independent guardians which are conspicuously absent in Dune.

摘要

弗兰克·赫伯特的《沙丘》系列对政治、生态和宗教等各种问题进行了分析。迄今为止，其法律方面一直被忽视。与法律在《沙丘》中不起重要作用的普遍看法相反，本文将首先表明法律确实在《沙丘》中无处不在，并以重要的方式塑造了叙事。沙丘发展了不同的法律文化：帝国中愤世嫉俗的法治和本土弗雷曼人中严肃的法治。它以一种深受集体决定论影响的方式反映了法律的局限性，这种集体决定论首先在列夫·托尔斯泰的《战争与和平》中发展起来，一个直到现在才被注意到的灵感来源。沙丘反映了对有组织的权威的深刻不信任。最终，它低估了法律可以防止滥用权力的事实。但要做到这一点，法律需要独立的监护人，而《沙丘》中明显缺乏这种监护人。