»Pas Moi« examines the power dynamics and structures of domination woven into mainstream historiography, analyzing the origins of the first technical devices for the recording, transmission, and reproduction of sound from the perspective of Deaf people and sign language. The celebrated technologies, which shaped the future of the music industry, were sometimes developed with audist and eugenic intent: deafness was viewed as a disease to be eradicated rather than a cultural identity with its own language and community. For instance, 19th-century speech-capture devices were invented to serve as instruments of forced re-education within the framework of so-called speech therapy. Hearing could now be technically measured and visualized—treated like an object made of data and figures from which a supposed “norm” could be derived. With critical humor, Diana Anselmo and his team shed light on the history inscribed in these technological innovations and counter the hearing world’s normative concepts with visions of their own. What if start from a point way beyond the notion of the »deficit« when thinking about history, identity, and progress?

»Pas Moi« is part of the German Sign Language (DGS) themed weekend, to which both hearing and deaf people are invited. Together with → »Schlucken« , the event is available as part of a → Kombi-Ticket.