Variations in Minor Mode: The Question of Accent in Chantal Akerman’s Cinema

Abstract

This article looks at the question of the accent in cinema, i.e. the latent, inaudible, often spectral dimension of our listening to films. By analyzing certain accents in film, we are reminded of the extent to which they testify to the irreducible presence of the body in the voice. In this way, we are placed at the center of any interrogation of the filmic voice. The corpus of study is taken entirely from the work of Chantal Akerman. This work first shows a tension between denial and the discreet presence of the Belgian accent (Walloon accent from Brussels). Moreover, the filmmaker’s voice in her works reflects the same ambivalence towards her place of origin, but it also constitutes a vocal signature, a singular inflection like an irreducible dimension, impossible to erase. Besides, recording the mother’s voice allows us to hear an accent marked by exile and History.