Visual Instincts

The notion that “…..deafness restricts and thins out the supply of new ideas and experience on which the novelist depends to create his fictions…….” is still spinning me out. I’ve read and heard many ignorant [willfully and otherwise] things about deafness in my time, but this one really rankles, in that it encapsulates what hearies really believe to be the defining point of deafness: it’s limitation. A definition that is derived from outside observation, which becomes internalised, and it crystallises into a homem do saco when a hearing person starts to lose their hearing.

The angst that a person feels, when being disconnected from a familiar world is very real. It is made all the more worrying, because our culture which relies heavily on the aural sense, buttressed by the visual sense, does not know how to deal with this loss. It can only guess. So much is invested in the act of hearing, and because it does not have the knowledge of what it’s like not to hear, it can only assume that not being able to hear is restrictive.

More than that, it refuses to re-interpret it as anything but a loss. Our aurally inclined culture is deaf, to the idea that maybe, hearing, is not the be all and end all of human existence. It is deaf to the idea that maybe, not hearing, It is deaf to the idea that there is a positiveness to being deaf. This deafness is rooted in the refusal of hearing to engage with its polar opposite, deafness, as its equal.

And Deafness its equal. Deafness is the equal of hearing.

Of course, people are ready to argue otherwise. And that’s because so few have ever ventured to that other side, their knowledge of deafness is lacking. They cannot offer a plausible counterargument for why it is a negative state of being, other than a series of value judgements based on a subjective experience, and the world/ culture constructed around the aural sense is the only one many know.

Hearing and Deafness. Polar opposites. One the equal of the other. Neither is better than the other. Each poses its own unique characteristics, which influences the perspectives, experiences and opportunities that arise. Which in turn will influence how each side views and interacts with the world.

The problem does not lie with the lack of knowledge about deafness. A problem that is compounded by the subjective view of being hearing. The problem lies in the barrier that this subjectiveness creates, against, not only a positive state of deafness, but also against the possibility of any positive interaction between the two sides, as equals.

This schism exists because of fear, amongst other reasons.

But deafness exists. There are deaf people to prove it. Deafness can be, is, a positive state of being. There are happy Deaf people to prove it. The very existence of these happy Deaf people, gives lie to the idea that not hearing, is a negative state of being.

For an writer [or artist] like David Lodge, the journey from hearing to deafness, presents an opportunity to acquire new knowledge. Deafness is a new experience, and hence will present him with new knowledge. This new knowledge is not the same as the knowledge he gleaned from being hearing. It wouldn’t be, nor should it be.

It is ingrained in us, that we seek normality. But life constantly rebutts and constantly changes that normality, to which human beings cling to, ever tighter, because of fear. It is this, as part of the metamorphosis, that David is undergoing, that he is experiencing.

He seems to have recognised this in part, which resulted in his latest work, Deaf Sentence. But whether he grows, and moves beyond the negativity he is currently experiencing, remains to be seen. But it does represent an opportunity. His artistry will be tested, and may be found wanting should he choose to rail against the idea of a positive state of deafness. The choice is his to make, as a person and as an writer.

Understanding that Hearing and Deafness are polar opposites. Acceptance that both are the equal of the other. Appreciation of each sides unique characteristics. And the [schism] the interactive possibilities of the two sides, makes for a rather fertile breeding ground, out of which a new store of knowledge can grow.

That’s Entertainment:

The Tree Of Knowledge
The Idol-Maker: David Lodge – Deaf Sentence
David Lodge: Deaf Sentence