Nanopoetics of drama: The rise of three full-length plays from research on arsenic and nanosilica from rice hull ash of the University of the Philippines Los Baños nanoscience and technology facility and analytical and instrumentation science laboratory

• Main Author: Bucoy, Layeta P.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2021
• Subjects: Nanoscience; Nanotechnology; Theater; Performance; Drama; Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdd_lit/1; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=etdd_lit
• Institution: De La Salle University

This project developed three full-length plays based on the research outputs of the University of the Philippines Los Baños Nanoscience and Technology Facility and Analytical and Instrumentation Science Laboratory namely: “Effects of Nanosilica Powder from Rice Hull Ash on Seed Germination of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)”; “Growth and Yield of Tomato Applied with Silicon Supplements with Varying Material Structures”; “Effect of nano-SiO2 from rice hull ash on the conductivity of cement paste”; “Investigation on Performance of Epoxy Coated Steels with Nano-SiO2 and Polyaniline Composite Using Complex Impedance Spectroscopy”; “Optimization and Validation of a Differential Pulse Anodic Stripping Voltammetric (DPASV) Method for Trace Analysis of Inorganic Arsenic in Contaminated Water”; and “Bench-scale Production of Filters for the Removal of Arsenic from Contaminated Water using Modified Biopolymer-Silica Nanocomposite Materials.” It problematized how drama in the form of a full-length play and science in the form of an actual scientific research paper act as particular representations of the same universal statement. It developed the nanopoetics of drama which is both a response and a challenge to Gilad Meiri’s nano-poetics of poetry. The nanopoetics of drama is founded on contextualization and metaphorization. It positions the playwright as a contextualizer of the nano and as the metaphorizer of a scientific principle and the Aristotelian concept of a complex and complete human action. It addresses Carl Djerassi’s science-in-theater’s issues on plotting, didactism, and on metaphorizing and misrepresenting science,. The resulting full-length plays are Dance of the Foolies, Orgullo Compound, and Doc Anna … Let’s Kill this Lab!. All plays illustrate power relations while dramatizing “nanosilica penetrates tomato seed effectively because of its small particle size and thus contributes to plant growth;” “nanosilica from RHA improves anti-corrosive and electrical conductivity properties;” and “the importance of conducting a speciation analysis in combating high level of arsenic contamination in water.” This dissertation project concludes that the rise of a dramatic text from a scientific research paper may only effectively occur if diving into the scientific research paper hits its “nanostructure.”