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Accenting the Other: Rhetorical Constructions of Identity and Difference in the Films of Lars von Trier
Todd
Penner (Austin College)
In the paper from last year we explored the trope of martyrdom in its ancient context and its reconfiguration in one particular contemporary, European film-maker. In this follow-up paper, we aim to push the analysis of the latter further by examining one particular but consistent theme in von Trier’s corpus—the accentuation of identity (national and otherwise) and the differentiation of sameness? We are intrigued by his move from the literal use of accents to a broader use of accenting difference on both narrative and meta-narrative levels. Moreover, we are also interested in examining the relationship of the mode and method of production in the Dogme film enterprise (von Trier was one of its founders) and the way in which rhetorical identity and differentiation are constructed in the narrative, especially in terms of its anti-Hollywood (and anti-American) “sub-plot” involving the subversion of the latter by the former. We find that von Trier has, using a broad pattern of accentuation (both literal and metaphorical), been adept at engaging not only his own cultural (particularly at the intersection of religion) context, but also at criticizing the formation and maintenance of American identity (as perceived from a European perspective). In this paper we will explore the function and patterns of accentuation in von Trier’s most recent movies (Breaking the Waves [1995], The Idiots [1998], Dancer in the Dark [2000], and Dogville [2003]). We will first briefly compare Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark, where literal accents are used as identity markers, which give the different characters an insider or outsider status with respect to the dominant culture in which they are situated. In both movies accents reflect and subsequently inscribe a value system. They are used to locate both difference and superiority vis-à-vis the dominant group. Even though the dominant accented culture presents itself as superior, the outsider to that culture is presented as ultimately holding the higher moral ground. The valuation of speech in this context partakes of larger cultural scripts, wherein variation from or adherence to a “norm” is paradigmatic for character. Thus, accents function on both narrative and meta-narrative levels. Far from being stable categories, however, accents can be adopted or changed and take on different meaning depending on one’s point of view. The outsider can become an insider and vice versa. This is most explicitly the case in The Idiots, where the accent in question is not a particular native tongue, but the speech pattern adopted by a group who mimic mentally handicapped people to differentiate themselves and criticize cultural norms and values. Speech here again serves to demarcate those who belong inside or outside the group, even when the group itself switches back and forth between both accents and thus constantly moves between insider and outsider status itself. Although in The Idiots the accent in question is clearly different from both Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark, the issue is remarkably similar, because in all three movies accents are used to value difference over the dominant paradigm. Reversal is achieved, but by accenting difference the function of accenting remains the same. In the end one accent again overrules another, thereby reinscribing the dominant cultural script. Finally, Dogville provides a more complex form of accentuation, here between village people and the “invasion” into their community by an outsider of clearly elite status. The accenting here is less of a speech pattern (although use of words do come into play as a means of differentiation), but more of a broadly conceived economic and social pattern. As with the other von Trier movies, the “outsider” here similarly reinscribes a critical system of values, drawn in this case explicitly on the Judeo-Christian tradition. Alongside the narrative patterns evidenced elsewhere in von Trier’s filmic corpus, we see in Dogville a further (and more deconstructive) element of the Dogme film making process. Dogville thus brings to the forefront the relationship inherent in all of von Trier’s work: the style and method of filmmaking enacts the very process of accenting identity and differentiation that operates in the narrative itself. Von Trier’s work explored here offers a bleak view of humanity—both in a European (particularly Danish) context and in opposition to other national and transnational identities. That a globalized (or at least “encroaching”) world enterprise (and the mechanisms used to perpetuate that) seem to lurk in the background of all of these stories suggests that von Trier’s movies (process and product) seek to offer a form of resistance. At the same time, his rhetoric frequently reinscribes the very moralism it criticizes in the first place. This is a tension that von Trier seems to struggle with throughout—although, in the end, his accent provides the consistent voice that unifies the corp(u)s.
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