Supporting Deaf Culture Whilst Looking for a Cure: Conflicting Responses to Deafness

By R J Pigott

Other minority cultures in the west seem to be largely safe from mainstream discussions of eradication and interventions which attempt to normalise them. At the very least when the discussions do arise they raise controversy.

This short book will investigate the attitudes of the western world towards Deaf culture and examine the possible conflicts with treating deafness as a culture while at the same time researching its cure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Passenger 4b
• Release date: Jun 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393343912

Book preview

Forward

This book sets out to examine the apparent conflict between the ideas of Deafness as a culture and deafness as something to be cured. First, the background of modelling deafness against the medical and social models will be explained. Deaf culture will briefly be discussed as well as how the philosophy of eugenics views deafness. Curative technologies currently in existence and being developed will also be briefly explained. Once this context is established the perceptions around deafness will be further explored. Specifically, the conflict between stating that deafness is not a disability yet claiming rights provided under disability legislation. These perceptions will then be related to the various responses to deafness, such as researching a way to cure it and seeing it as a minority experiencing a form of genocide.

The outcome of this research shows that while the medical profession appears to be operating with a very different set of ethics compared to those of eugenics, there is still a threat to the Deaf community from their curative approach.

Chapter 1: Introduction

W ithout men, no culture , certainly; but equally, and more significantly, without culture, no men. (Geertz 1973:49)

In the western world many minority cultures and ethnic groups have benefited from changing attitudes and civil rights movements during the last century and to some extent Deaf culture has been included in this; sign language, a cultural beacon for many Deaf people (Breivik 2005a:204, 196-197), has been recognised by many European governments including Britain. Deaf Studies has established itself as a legitimate area of study internationally and there has been an incremental increase in the awareness of Deaf people as a linguistic minority (Breivik 2005b:18).

However, while there is an apparent support for Deaf community and culture at present is it possible that this only represents a temporary accommodation until a cure can be found? With research into curing deafness through genetics (For example Gallagher 2013 & Gavaghan 2012) seemingly uncontroversial it is not hard to imagine a future similar to the one found in the fictional short film ‘The End’. In this film a cure for deafness results in a steady reduction in the number of Deaf people. This in turn leads to dwindling support for the Deaf community and sign language until eventually the Deaf community disappears altogether (Evans 2011).

Other minority cultures in the west seem to be largely safe from mainstream discussions of eradication and interventions which attempt to normalise them.  At the very least when the discussions do arise they raise controversy (for example BBC 2012a). This book will investigate the attitudes of the western world towards Deaf culture and examine the possible conflicts with treating deafness as a culture while at the same time researching a cure.

The next chapter will provide some key background information that will serve to contextualise the issues found in later chapters. An outline of the differing approaches taken by the medical and social models will be provided. This will explain how deafness has been viewed as a disability or medical problem that