Mythmoot Home | Mythmoot VIII Schedule
Abstracts for Friday, June 25, 2021
Academic Presentations (4:30 pm – 6:00 pm)
Hyperjump To: Earthsea – Enterprise – Lyonesse
Earthsea
Slack Channel: #chat-1-earthsea
Panel: Dune in the 21st Century
Dominic J. Nardi, N. Trevor Brierly, Ted Royston, Kara Kennedy
Frank Herbert’s Dune is one of the best-selling and most popular science fiction works in history, widely regarded as a masterpiece on par with The Lord of the Rings. It was the first novel to win both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award and has inspired several film adaptations. However, unlike with J.R.R. Tolkien’s oeuvre, there is surprisingly little scholarly engagement with the Dune texts. The study of Frank Herbert’s works has not kept up with advances and trends in the academic scholarship on speculative fiction.
This panel will provide new interpretations of the Dune novels, examining political themes, narrative structure, and even roleplaying games. The members of this panel have either published academic articles about Dune and/or are contributing to an upcoming volume of scholarship called Dune for the 21st Century (McFarland, expected 2021).
Bureaucrats of Dune: Frank Herbert’s Deconstruction of Big Government
Frank Herbert has famously claimed that he wrote Dune as a warning against relying on charismatic leaders because they are prone to making disastrous decisions. In the political science literature, bureaucracy is generally treated as the opposite of and a remedy to charismatic leadership because it tends to make more rational policy decisions. However, in the Dune saga, Herbert also critiques bureaucracy as inefficient and warns that it stifles human initiative.
On the other hand, Herbert’s ConSentiency series (The Dosadi Experiment and Whipping Star) treats bureaucracy as a threat because it is so efficient that citizens have no chance to participate in governance decisions. There is even an organization dedicated to sabotaging and slowing the operations of galactic bureaucracy, artificially adding “red tape” to the bureaucratic process.
In this paper, I will examine Herbert’s various warnings about bureaucracy. I begin by reviewing the findings in the political science literature about the goals and effects of bureaucracies. I then examine and attempt to reconcile Herbert’s treatment of bureaucracy in the Dune saga and the ConSentiency universe. Finally, I argue that Herbert’s primary critique is against neither charismatic leadership nor bureaucracy, but rather against large-scale government of any kind. Taken together, Herbert’s works promote localism and local accountability for local decisions.
Dominic J. Nardi is a political scientist with a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He has published academic articles about J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, and Blade Runner; coedited The Transmedia Franchise of Star Wars TV (Palgrave, 2020); and is a coeditor of and contributor to Dune for the 21st Century (McFarland, expected 2021).
Collaborative Storytelling in the Dune Universe
“Dune: Adventures in the Imperium” is a tabletop roleplaying game set in the Dune universe, published by Modiphius in 2021. This presentation will review the game, examining the distinctive features, mechanics and other elements it uses to create a collaborative storytelling experience that emulates the unique elements of the Dune universe. One innovative example is that the players have the option of creating during startup the noble House they will serve, instead of using an existing House. The presentation will also evaluate the faithfulness of the game to the setting and what it offers in terms of premise or “situation” for players. Finally, the audience will be invited to play in an online game session, to be held at a later date.
N. Trevor Brierly is a software engineer and currently working on a Masters in Language and Literature from Signum University, with a concentration in Tolkien Studies. He concurrently serves as Events Team Lead at Signum, coordinating national and regional academic conferences. He recently published an essay about worldbuilding in Sub-creating Arda (Walking Tree Publishers, 2019).
Dune and the Metanarrative of Power
By embracing the role of the Fremen’s Mahdi or messiah, Paul Atreides takes control of the narratives imposed upon himself and the Fremen by the Bene Gesserit. Paul transforms himself from the dispossessed and exiled son of a doomed house to the messianic leader of a powerful but marginalized people. By taking control of this narrative, Paul turns the Fremen into a force that can avenge his family’s destruction and ultimately conquer known space and bring about a new era for humanity. Paul controls the Fremen’s messiah narrative to achieve his ends, but he comes to feel trapped in the role of Mahdi and fearful of where it will lead him and the rest of humanity.
Narrative control is important to many of the plots within plots of Frank Herbert’s Dune. The Bene Gesserit Sisterhood protects its members by seeding religious narratives across the galaxy. The Baron Harkonnen and Emperor Shaddam IV seek to craft a false cover story for their betrayal of House Atreides. Paul manipulates the Fremen messiah narrative to rise to power, but ultimately feels trapped in the Mahdi role.
Drawing on narrative theorists such as Birgit Neumann, Ansgar Nünning and Kenneth Burke, this paper will argue for reading Dune as a metanarrative about the power and perils of narrative, one that explores a central ethical question: what are the preconditions for and the consequences of manipulating the narratives that define human society? It will do so by first discussing the many ways in which Dune implicitly foregrounds its own fictional and narrated nature. It will then turn to examining how Dune answers its central ethical question about the power of narrative and its effects upon humanity.
Ted Royston is an Assistant Professor of English at Pfeiffer University in North Carolina. He earned his Ph.D. at Texas Woman’s University, where he focused on Rhetoric, Narratology, and genre fiction.
Comparing T.E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom and Frank Herbert’s Dune
T.E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926) and the iconic figure of Lawrence of Arabia have been acknowledged as influences on Frank Herbert’s Dune, but there has been no extended study of the relationship between them. With the new film raising more awareness and concerns over the portrayal of the desert people and culture of the Fremen, it is timely to explore some thematically-arranged comparisons between the fictional world of Dune and the worlds in Seven Pillars of Wisdom as filtered through Lawrence’s recollections of his time as a liaison between the British and Arab camps during World War I. First, there is the question of the similarities and differences between Lawrence and Paul Atreides. Both appear as conflicted men raised in the West who adopt the ways of a Middle Eastern culture in order to blend in and meet their goal of rallying a fighting force. They understand the importance of desert power and act as a bridge between the two worlds they inhabit to facilitate the use of this force. However, Lawrence continually describes being unprepared and feeling like a fraud, whereas Paul appears largely confident and unbothered by his use of foreigners to gain authority. The guilt that is threaded throughout Lawrence’s story is absent in Paul’s understanding of himself as destined to rule. There are also differences in the Orientalizing tendencies in the characterizations of the Arabs and the Fremen, as well as significant divergences in the portrayal of women and religion. All of the above demonstrate that Dune is not a mere copy of the Lawrence of Arabia story with some science-fictional window dressing, but instead a narrative that uses elements of Lawrence’s account and his unique perspective as key ingredients with which to create a new world.
Kara Kennedy, PhD, is a researcher and writer in the areas of science fiction and digital literacy. She has published academic articles on world-building in the Dune series and has other works about the series forthcoming, and she posts literary analyses of Dune for a mainstream audience on her blog at DuneScholar.com.
Enterprise
Slack Channel: #chat-2-enterprise
The Dystopian Looking Glass: Propaganda in Harry Potter and the Hunger Games
Taylor Johnson Guinan
While dystopian literature often paints a futuristic picture full of disaster and despair, it also offers a critique on our current society that leads many readers to hope. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling and The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins are two best selling series that portray a dystopian world, which highlight many critiques on modern trends and where those trends might lead, such as propaganda. Examining the uses of propaganda in these novels reveals that they often reflect primary world realities. One popular propaganda tactic is repetition with the belief that if an idea is repeated enough then it becomes well known knowledge and even a belief of the public. Both series portray political leaders and governments who knowingly lie to the public repeatedly because it benefits their situation and maintains their power. While the repetition reinforces the belief in some, it can also lead others to mistrust all media sources even if a story proves to be true. The novels, specifically the Harry Potter novels, demonstrate that propaganda can be used to reinforce previously held public bias in favor of those in power, which is common in the primary world. The Hunger Games novels also portray propaganda as a form of distraction from the real issues, harkening back to the Roman concept of Panem et Circenses. Yet, ironically, the films that came from these novels used the same form of propaganda and entertainment that the novels warn against to increase their popularity. Furthermore, both series reflect the popularity of propaganda used in the primary world that discredits others in favor of oneself. With these ominous literary examples, the future is depicted as a dark and uncertain one. Yet, because these novels draw attention toward and critique real issues, perhaps there is hope for our future.
Taylor Johnson Guinan is a high school English teacher from Southern California who has long had a passion for books, reading, and writing, especially speculative fiction. She plans to begin her master’s thesis through Signum University this summer.
Utopian Ideals and Dystopian Realities: Finding Comfort in the Unfinished Story of the Dark Crystal
Kerra Fletcher
Imagine a beautiful crystalline palace on the verdant banks of a swift, shallow river. Overhead, multiple suns reveal low mountains in the distance. The beauty of this otherworldly scene belies the traumatic and violent circumstances of its creation. In expelling the evil Skeksis from Thra, Jen and Kira have caused this tranquil transformation, and we can imagine them emerging from the palace, relieved to finally see their land restored to a lush and peaceful state.
Their surroundings visually signify hope and new beginnings, but in truth, it holds little promise to the only two known survivors of the Gelfling race who are ignorant of their own people and culture. Jen and Kira are even robbed of justice since the Skeksis depart from Thra instead of being held accountable for their role in the Gelfling genocide. What utopia awaits when there is no community, when there is no accountability?
The distortions of reality are also present in the in Age of Resistance. For example, the Gelfling tribes pledge fealty to the Skeksis who falsely but convincingly claim that they are the true guardians of the Dark Crystal. Even within the seemingly idyllic Gelfling communities, inequality reigns between individuals and the between the tribes, injustices which are fostered by the Skeksis.
This presentation will examine the prevailing themes of utopian ideals and dystopian realities depicted in the Dark Crystal movie and television series. In an almost ironic imitation of pauses, interruptions, and terminations that characterized 2020, the television series was cancelled at the end of season one, depriving the audience of a potentially satisfying context and ending to the tale. In a time when people look to fantastical stories for comfort and diversion, what do we do with incomplete ones, especially when trying to reconcile the ideal with reality?
Kerra Fletcher‘s pet peeve is a movie that ruins a perfectly good book, and one of her joyful pleasures is a movie that is actually better than the book. She is excited to attend Mythmoot VIII, after a wonderful experience presenting last year with her husband, Jason Troutman.
Deciding Without Knowing: Learning to Trust Intuition in an Age of Uncertainty
Jason Troutman
Most walks in life are simply pleasant strolls through familiar country. Yet whenever we put our homes behind us and step out onto the road we run the risk of being swept off our feet, propelled into the world ahead, where the ways become less sure. Some roads lead to crucial junctures where many paths and errands meet, a perplexing intersection of mutually exclusive choices bound up with perilous missions, where choosing one path necessitates forsaking others.
How can a bewildered traveler select the right path when any decision’s outcome cannot be predicted with certainty? How can one judge what to do in such times of doubt when even the very wise cannot see all ends? When the future is uncertain and heads are at a loss we must turn to a different voice of counsel: we must listen to our hearts.
The characters in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings speak of the heart not only as the seat of the emotions but also as a sensitive organ possessing a kind of insight that we might call intuition. At critical moments in the story we can observe Frodo, Aragorn, and Faramir perceiving facts, drawing conclusions, and making decisions based on what their hearts know- or at least believe- to be true.
This paper will examine the various informative capacities of the heart as illustrated in the text and determine how heart-knowledge can best be incorporated in decision making. We will also consider situations where the promptings of the heart ought to be heeded despite contradicting assumptions based on head-knowledge. In this way we can better determine when trusting to luck or fate is not a merely a fool’s hope but is in fact the wisest course of action when choosing which of many possible paths to tread.
Jason Troutman loves stories, especially those that have maps and philosophies, preferring the tales where triumph and tragedy intermingle. He is a confusingly fortunate husband and proud father whose dwindling Air Force career gives him hope of spending more time inhabiting Arda, at least imaginatively.
Lyonesse
Slack Channel: #chat-3-lyonesse
Going in for Ringlore: What was the nature of the Three Elven Rings?
Brandon Minich
There has been much discussion about the nature of the One Ring ever since Lord of the Rings was published. However, little is known about the Elven Rings, the only Rings not forged with influence from Sauron. These Rings do not bend toward evil like the other Rings. But we should ask: what do they do? How do they work? And were they misguided from the start?
There were three distinct Elvish Rings. How did they differ from each other? And were some more effective than others? What is the purpose that Galadriel, Elrond, Gil-galad, Cirdan, and Gandalf used their Rings for? And how successful were these goals met? Were the Elven Rings, the culmination of the Rings of Power, a mistake from the start, even if Sauron had never forged The One Ring?
Brandon Minich is a software developer and massive Tolkien nerd. He wishes there were way more information about the Second Age.
Many Paths to Tread: Modeling the Multiple Dimensions of Time in Tolkien’s Legendarium
James Tauber
Jean-Luc Godard is attributed as once having said “A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order.” The order in which a narrative unfolds is often different from the actual timeline of events. This is certainly true in Lord of the Rings, whether it be the events recounted during the Council of Elrond or the author’s decision to tell Frodo and Sam’s post-Fellowship-breaking story in separate books rather than interleaved narrative. The distinction between what the Russian formalists called fabula (the events of a story), and syuzhet (the organization of the story) is brought into even starker focus once one considers the paratext. How do the timelines in Appendix B map to the narrative? There are also many references to earlier events (even going back to the Eldar Days).
An adequate modeling of this, which the Digital Tolkien Project is undertaking, would be enough by itself, but with Tolkien we have another dimension to consider. What if we want to model different iterations of the legendarium—different drafts of the manuscripts? This is what Christopher Tolkien referred to as the ‘longitudinal’ (diachronic) study of Middle-earth as opposed to the ‘transverse’ (synchronic). And so an event can be placed on a timeline in the secondary creation and in the narrative structure of a textual work, but both of these can be placed in the primary timeline: a particular manuscript draft, a version of the story, a date in the author’s lifetime.
This talk will discuss the ongoing work of the Digital Tolkien Project on mapping narrative structure to secondary world timelines synchronically and tracking changes diachronically. Examples from across the legendarium will be given with experiments both in representing the underlying data and visualizing it.
James K. Tauber is a philologist, linguist, and software developer who works with scholars around the world using computers to better understand languages and texts.
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