The cyborgification of paralympic sport

Abstract

--Since the turn of the century, the Paralympic movement has gained a high public profile. We will argue that this new high profile is a direct result of the focus of media attention upon new technologies of prosthetic medicine that have helped to create a legion of cyborg bodies that is manifest in the image of the contemporary sporting supercrip. This paper highlights the development of a technocentric ideology that has been embraced within the Paralympic movement. In embracing this ideology, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) began to celebrate the cyborgification of Paralympic bodies. Ultimately, this paper questions whether the advances in technology are actually empowering all disabled athletes or simply those who have the potential to be cyborgs.Key words: cyborg, cyborgification, disability, Paralympics, supercrip, technology Résumé --La cyborgification du sport paralympique. Depuis le début du siècle, le mouvement paralympique a acquis un profil grand public. Nous allons faire valoir, qu'il résulte directement de l'attention médiatique portée aux nouvelles technologies de la prothétique qui ont contribué à créer une légion de corps cyborg qui se manifeste à l'image du supermarché sportif contemporain. Cet article souligne le développement d'une idéologie technocentrique qui a été adoptée dans le mouvement paralympique. En adoptant cette idéologie, le Comité international paralympique (IPC) a commencé à célébrer la cyborgification des organes paralympiques. En fin de compte, cet article se demande si les progrès de la technologie habilitent actuellement tous les athlètes handicapés ou simplement ceux qui ont le potentiel d'être cyborgs.

The Cybathlon experience: beyond transhumanism to capability hybridization

“…Indeed, along with recurrent themes of 'medical narrative of the athlete' or 'technology as a means to overcome the limitation of one's body', Wolbring points out that 'the whole coverage could be summed up as a promotion of technology as a means to push the boundary of the abilities of humans and the boundary of sport' (Wolbring 2018, 449). The Cybathlon media coverage reproduces the dominant discourse of the transhuman cyborg (Wolbring 2018) that has long guided the visibility of disabled athletes (Howe and Silva 2017). We defend the idea that the policy of the Cybathlon will need to promote a non-transhumanist view of technologized bodies.…”

“…The mobility technology used in sport for the disabled is unnatural in the context of high performance sport, but in light of the 'super human' results achieved through the use of either state-of-the-art wheelchairs or prosthetic limbs, it has become an accepted currency over the last decade. (Howe 2008, 135) These athletes, who embody the transhuman cyborg, are among the most media-recognized contemporary figures of disability sport (Howe and Silva 2017). This cyborgification has the direct consequence of producing a prestige hierarchy of Paralympic bodies (Bush et al 2013).…”

“…We consider the transhuman cyborg as a fantasized model of human enhancement, based on an ableist and heteronormative aesthetics of disabled sporting bodies. It has developed in the capitalist ideology of selfimprovement (Howe and Silva 2017;Jönsson 2010). And it is certainly for this reason that the transhuman cyborg image reaches its peak in the sports field: the idea of citius altius fortius occurs in (and through) both the sporting and the cyborg bodies.…”

Extraordinary Normalcy, Ableist Rehabilitation, and Sporting Ablenationalism: The Cultural (Re)Production of Paralympic Disability Narratives

“…Mostly, scholars have pointed to the extent to which Paralympic representations are predicated on a number of wider cultural narratives of disability (see, Ellis, 2019;Kama, 2004, McGillivray et al, 2019, such as medicalised, vulnerable portrayals of disability preventing full participation in everyday life; supercrip narratives with an emphasis on inspirational stories of determination and personal courage to overcome adversity; or, portrayal of individuals with disabilities as less than human, presented as villains or 'freaks' (Ellis 2009). While examples of these narratives can be found across the media industry, the most widely identified in Paralympic coverage is the 'supercrip' (Ellis, 2009;Silva & Howe, 2012;Howe & Silva, 2017).…”

“…Previous studies have typically depicted the 'supercrip' narrative as the most dominant in Paralympic representation (e.g., Howe & Silva, 2017;Silva & Howe, 2012;McGillivary et al, 2019); a representation characterised by inspirational stories of personal determination to 'overcome' disability and achieve success (Karma, 2004). However, in recent years, supercrip iconography has received some attention by disability scholars (see, Grue, 2015;Schalk, 2016) who suggest the need for a more focused critique that pays attention to genre, narrative context and reception/consumption (see, Beacom et al, 2016).…”