Kultura Głuchych a technologie wspomagające słyszenie. Między cyborgizacją a luddyzacją osób z wadami słuchu

The article focuses on hearing assistive technologies for hearing impaired people, and analyzes them in terms of the development of Deaf Culture. The culture of this community manifests itself through their attachment to the use of sign language and in various artistic activities which strengthen the identity of the members and supporters. With various assistive technologies available (particularly hearing aids and cochlear implants), a cultural dilemma arises related on the one hand to the cyborgisation and on the other hand to the neo-Luddism of the deaf and hard of hearing. Most of them avail of technology, but at the price of a certain level of cyborgization. However, there is a minority in Deaf Culture which, wishing to preserve its Deaf identity, rejects technology, thus subscribing to the technophobic process of opposing technological devices and machines, initiated by the Luddites in the 19th century.