Dune: Science Fiction And The End Of The Future

Writer and art critic JJ Charlesworth will discuss Frank Herbert’s 1964 sci-fi masterpiece Dune and how it questions the relationship of humanity to the idea of history and progress.

Frank Herbert’s 1964 sci-fi masterpiece Dune remains a pivotal work in the history of science fiction, heralding the beginnings of a more quizzical and sceptical idea of the future in Western science fiction.

Whereas the works of the earlier twentieth century trumpeted the infinite possibilities of humanity’s future, driven by technology, science fiction since Dune has been more preoccupied with the imminent eclipse of humanity.

When much of today’s science-fiction can barely bring itself to imagine human beings even a few years into the future, how might science fiction recentre the human today?