Making the Fictional Language of “Dune”

Plus: a review of “Dune: Part Two”; Masha Gessen on the death of Aaron Bushnell; and John Cassidy on the Michigan primaries. View in browser | Update your preferences Wednesday, February 28, 2024 In today’s newsletter, word building, and then: • A review of “Dune: Part Two” • Masha Gessen on the death of Aaron Bushnell • John Cassidy on the Michigan primaries “Dune” and the Art of Making Fictional Language The alien language spoken in Frank Herbert’s novels carries traces of Arabic. Why has that influence been scrubbed from the films? Illustration by Vivek Thakker “Twenty years ago, viewers would have struggled to name franchises other than ‘Star Trek’ or ‘The Lord of the Rings’ that bothered to invent new languages,” Manvir Singh writes in a new, wide-ranging reported essay. “Today, with the budgets of the biggest films and series rivalling the G.D.P.s of small island nations, constructed languages, or conlangs, are becoming a norm, if not an implicit requirement.” When Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” series needed a conlang for the desert-dwelling Fremen people, the filmmakers turned to Hollywood’s go-to linguistic creator, David J. Peterson, who got his big break developing languages for “Game of Thrones,” including Dothraki and High Valyrian. Singh speaks to Peterson about how he builds a lexical universe—and explores why he omitted the traces of Arabic that were present in the original “Dune” novels. Was the decision practical or political, or maybe both? And what should invented languages tell us about our own world? Read the story Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » Justin Chang on “Dune: Part Two” Illustration by Eva Redamonti Chang, who recently joined The New Yorker as a film critic, writes that the second installment of “Dune” suffers from the director Denis Villeneuve’s desire to “iron out every last kink of confusion or ambiguity” from the story. But he praises the film’s embrace of grand spectacle. “With Hollywood’s bulkiest coffers and most advanced technologies at his disposal,” Chang writes, “Villeneuve becomes a prophet in the wilderness, an evangelist for that old-time religion known as the movies.” Read the review » Our Columnists Our Columnists Aaron Bushnell’s Act of Political Despair What does it mean for an American to self-immolate? By Masha Gessen Our Columnists Michigan’s “Uncommitted” Democrats Send a Message to Biden The President won the Democratic primary easily, with more than eighty per cent of the vote, but more than a hundred thousand protest voters have made the war in Gaza an issue in his campaign. By John Cassidy Culture Dept. Elements Thinking About A.I. with Stanisław Lem The science-fiction writer didn’t live to see ChatGPT, but he foresaw so much of its promise and peril. By Rivka Galchen Books The Arrested Development of Carson McCullers She was one of the great writers of American girlhood—possibly because she spent her life being tended to like a child. By Maggie Doherty Exonerations Dept. An Opera for the Wrongfully Convicted The Ohio Innocence Project has freed forty-two people. A couple of them attend a performance of “Blind Injustice,” which tells their stories. By Ian Frazier Fun & Games Dept. Crossword A Lightly Challenging Puzzle Kirsten who played Marie Antoinette: five letters. By Paolo Pasco Daily Cartoon Wednesday, February 28th By Amy Hwang Name Drop: Can you guess the identity of a notable person—contemporary or historical—in six clues? Play a quiz from our archive » P.S. “A sad irony of Herbert’s life is that, for all his attunement to adolescent yearnings and worries, he was often a terrible father to his two sons.” Read Ed Park on the “Dune” author Frank Herbert, and how his novels succeed and fail as teen-age fantasy. Today’s newsletter was written by Ian Crouch. Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. Plus, browse more newsletters and invite a friend to sign up. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the daily newsletter from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2024. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.