Representações do feminino: uma análise ecológica, política e de gênero de Lady Jessica e Chani em Duna de Frank Herbert

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes how the characters Lady Jessica and Chani are represented in Frank Herbert’s Dune trilogy. Although both are shaped by patriarchal structures, their positions within the Atreides political project produce radically different experiences. Lady Jessica, mother of Paul Atreides, occupies an ambiguous position in the narrative, acting in political manipulation and in the control of the inhabitants of Arrakis, while simultaneously appropriating elements of Fremen culture. In contrast, Chani, a Fremen woman and daughter of Liet Kynes, represents the experience of the native body directly subjected to imperial violence. From a decolonial ecology perspective, grounded in the reflections of Malcom Ferdinand (2022), ecological emancipation is understood as only possible when the experiences of colonized and historically invisibilized peoples are taken into account. It is thus concluded that Herbert’s work does not offer ethical or ecological emancipatory solutions, but rather exposes the limits and contradictions of political projects that instrumentalize nature, culture, and women’s bodies. The relationship between Lady Jessica and Chani makes it possible to understand how the feminine occupies distinct positions within the colonial system of Arrakis, being alternately morally blamed for the Empire’s violence and biologically sacrificed to ensure its continuity. In sum, it is not enough for women to be incorporated as support for a “green revolution”; critical consciousness and openness to dialogue are required.