Lybia as Arrakis, Ghadaffi as Harkonen?

An editorial titled "Arrakis" [MKD] by Mitko Biljanovski, published in Macedonian daily Dnevnik (Wed, Feb 23, 2011) claims that in Dune (1965) Frank Herbert inadvertently...

"...prophesied the destiny of a [then-] young and ambitious officer... who would grow into a colonel who will be saluted by generals and statesmen, an eccentric who would prefer a thoroughbred camel to a limo... with a charming-brutal Amazon guard of 40 virgins, trained to use all kinds of weapons and martial arts."

Biljanovski likens the Ghadaffis to Harkonens, drawing direct parallels between the oil beneath the sands of Lybia to the spice melange that powers the interstellar travel of the world of Dune (links added).

The brutal bloodshed, thousands of victims, bombed protesters, hiring mercenaries to beat up the people, and the restrained reactions from international community, make clear that the "Guild" will tolerate the contemporary baron, colonel Ghadaffi, as long as he controls the huge quantites of "spice" under the dunes of Sahara.

"He who controls the spice, controls the universe!" - Herbert wrote [probably most famous quote of Baron Vladimir Harkonen].

Rebelions in North Africa and the Middle East, and the fall of autocratic leaders in Tunisia and Egypt faced the western civilisation with the uncomfortable truth - it turned a blind eye towards the undemocratic regimes in the Mediterranean, preferring stability and order, and moreover, the natural gas and the oil. [Western] Europe which piled its treasures during the era of colonialism also faced wars and autocratic regimes on its Eastern and Southern borders not so long ago, and persistently promotes democracy, human rights and rule of law as universal values. However, it quietly encouraged autocratic regimes on the opposite shores of the Mediterranean--with lucrative trade deals, investments and credits--as a protection against the potential chaos: wars, impoverished refugees, surge of militants... Enriching the ruling elites in North Africa, while the people grew poorer and more frustrated. Anger spilled in January, from Morocco to Iran. The irreplaceable Ben Ali and Mubarak fell, but the dominoes stopped at Ghadaffi, the first despot determined to defend his rule till the last bullet.

If we except the usual expressions of concern and calls against use of brutal force against protesters, Europe and America remain silent, because Ghadaffi's fall means the loss of guarantees for favorable energy deals, deals to stop the waves of immigrants, and forcible actions to root out radical Islamic groups.

While I write these lines, Ghadaffi still controls half of Lybia. If he falls, he will be just one more domino. But if he saves his hide with his tanks and airplanes, he will provide ["best practice"] example for the shaken autocratic regimes of Yemen, Bahrain, Oman, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Iran... showing them they can survive by using tanks against protesters. The Guild already gathered in Abu Dhabi, where the annual fair of defense technologies and weapons ends today. Americans, British and Russians sell various weapons to the Arab sheiks and sultans, from assault rifles to tanks and airplanes. Just like they sold to Mubarak and Ghadaffi.

As long as the Guild depends on the spice, Arrakis will be a doomed planet.

A reminder: kings and other kinds of hereditary aristocracy by definition are dictators. Dictators for life, whose "right" to rule comes from of being God's appointees on Earth, in collusion with legalized nepotism - their status comes from their genes, i.e. who they or their parents are, not from their merit.

Update: The U.S.A. introduced sanctions against Lybia.

Dune: Did Frank Herbert grok Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian?

The following excerpt from the first Dune novel (pg. 309) has certainly raised eyebrows of readers of the English version who are also fluent in any south Slavic language.

Deep within the cave, someone began chanting:

"Ima trava okolo!
I korenja okolo!"

Jessica translated silently: These are ashes! And these are roots!"
The funeral ceremony for Jamis was beginning.

The Fremen chant is in Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian. These closely related languages have their differences, which would not affect the above text - it would be the same in an any of them.

At first glance, the translation is deeply flawed, as the word "trava" in this form refers to grasses or herbs, while the form for ashes in the above languages would be "pepela" (from the infinitive "pepeo"). There are few solutions to this puzzle.

1. Lady Jessica made an error

Taking the contemporary meaning of the chant in Croatian/Bosnian/Serbian, Lady Jessica should have translated the chant with:

There are grasses/herbs around! And [some] roots around [too]!

This "mistake" is of no consequence later in the book, there are no incidents involving error of translation between Jessica or Paul on one hand, and the Fremen on the other.

As a device to show Jessica as capable of error ("only human" in the contemporary meaning*) it would be lost to the wast majority of readers who lack familiarity with Balkans linguistics. Therefore, we have to consider the next possibility:

2. Frank Herbert made an error

Another option is that the writer, Frank Herbert, intended the translation as "original," the "true" meaning conveyed by Jessica intended to be understood by English-language speakers, and then precluded it with a foreign-language translation to make it more exotic. In that case, he should have put the Fremen chant as

"Ima pepela okolo!
I korenja okolo!"

However, there's also a third option that would put at ease the mind of Dune fans, some of whom consider Herbert infallible.

3. Nobody's fault

No mistakes were made: Herbert grokked his Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Jessica's Fremen was impeccable. However, considering that the action takes place in the year of 10,191 A.D. A.G. (~ 21,264 A.D. - thanks SandChigger), it would be wise to suggest that the languages changed in the meantime, especially through mixing and matching of populations and cultural influences across various planets.

It is well-known fact that the meaning of some English words has changed in little over 400 years, from the time of Shakespeare or the King James Bible. For instance, the werb "to let" meant "to hinder", "awful" meant "deserving of awe," and "notorious" meant "famous". Or consider that in contemporary mainstream slang a person can at the same time be considered cool and hot.


* No pun intended, but the word human in the Dune novels is used to designate those with elite capabilities from the rabble, as in the "humanity test" involving the Gom Jabar.

Matrix Revolutions, Dune Messiah: common plots

In November 2003 I published the following observation in a review of the Matrix Revolutions:

The male hero, facing enormous challenges threatening his life and his community, has a female lover who is also his helper (but, without offspring). Tremendous force gathers strength to destroy all that he holds dear. Regular people believe him to be their savior, in spite of his personal doubts. A powerful conspiracy is in the making, including persons positioned very near. The traitor attacks, blinding the hero (burning his eyes out). But, the hero can still see, thanks to mystic power bestowed upon him. He manages to circumvent obstacles and accomplish survival of his project. His mate dies in the process, and he soon follows. But, his destiny is reached; his task, accomplished. Thus ends Dune Messiah, an inspiring novel, part of enormously popular series by Frank Herbert. What a coincidence! Matrix 3 uses all these plot elements, also.

In the meantime the only place I came across discussions on this topic are Wikipedia articles about fiction inspired by Dune. They even seem to be lacking from the official Dune Novels website forums.