Trauma, telephones and treatment: changing attitudes to hearing loss after World War One
| Dates: | 14 April 2015 |
|---|
| Times: | 13:00 - 14:00 |
|---|
| What is it: | Seminar |
|---|
| Organiser: | Faculty of Life Sciences |
|---|
| Speaker: | Coreen Anne McGuire |
|---|
|
This seminar is part of the lunchtime seminar series for the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM). Lunchtime seminars are typically no more than 30 minutes in length, followed by a period for audience questions (ending before 2pm). All are welcome.
Trauma, telephones and treatment: changing attitudes to hearing loss after World War One
Coreen Anne Maguire (University of Leeds)
Abstract:
The 1876 invention of the telephone was allegedly the result of Alexander Graham Bell’s attempt to create a device to help the deaf. Yet the result of such purely aural technology was to alienate those with a hearing loss that may previously have gone unnoticed. In so doing, the telephone was used to delineate levels of hearing loss, most notably through the Audiometer. The experiences of adults with hearing loss prior to World War One has been overlooked, especially in comparison to the vast literature exploring the education of deaf children. One way to recover the experiences of deaf adults in the Victorian period is by examining the variety of cunningly disguised acoustic hearing aids and early examples of ear protection. In this paper I explore changes in attitudes to hearing loss and hearing protection by examining objects taken from the collection of hearing aids held at the Thackray Medical Museum in Leeds, in conjunction with my work on their latest exhibition, ‘Recovery? From Flanders to Afghanistan.’
I argue that these changes were precipitated by World War One, which catalysed transformations in the perception, treatment and technology used to treat hearing loss. For soldiers in darkened trenches, hearing was essential for survival yet the auditory impact of shells and artillery fire deafened many soldiers and led to what the British Medical Journal described as a national crisis of hearing loss, exacerbated by the ‘hysterical deafness’ that was symptomatic of shell shock. My paper reveals how the deafening of many of the nation’s soldiers precipitated new explorations of the causes and treatments of deafness and resulted in changing attitudes and provisions for the deafened; including hearing aid clinics, electronic hearing aids, lip reading classes and the development of amplified telephones.
Speaker
Coreen Anne McGuire
Organisation: University of Leeds
Travel and Contact Information
Find event
2.57
Simon Building
Manchester
