Her Place in History: the fragmented representation of women in science and their narrative reassessment in contemporary historical science plays

Abstract

For most of the history of science, women appear to have been uninvolved. The annals of history speak of the impact of male scientists, contemporary education teaches about the models and theories conceived by men. This androcentric image of science, however, has been disproven by the recent historiography, which highlights that it is not for a lack of women in science but rather for a lack of recorded sources that have survived the centuries since. Historians of the late 20th century such as Hayden White have used narrative studies to explain how history, despite its claim to factuality, is in fact just as much as a complex narrative as fiction. This can also be applied to the issue at hand: Women have always been involved in science and it is merely the narrative of the history of science that has excluded them. Contemporary literature has mirrored this reappreciation of their role in science, turning its gaze from the male scientist to the female scientist as its protagonists. It is particularly on the contemporary stage that the stories of female scientists and their historiographical portrayal have become the centre of attention. This thesis centres on the common misconception about women’s participation in science, their ensuing historiographic re-discovery and the literary re-appreciation of their work in contemporary science plays. Using transmedial narrative studies, gender studies and a corpus of eight dramatic texts, this thesis shows how contemporary science plays correct the androcentric canon of history and allow those female scientists who have been omitted by history to take charge of their own life narrative.