- A "rocky 3rd half rugby style" accent, criticized, among others, the editor of Paris Match , after the appointment of the new Prime Minister, Jean Castex.
- Half of French women speak with intonation (33 million). And 27% say they know they are being laughed at "often" or "from time to time".
- “This obviously seems to me to be a form of casting. If he only had that, it wouldn't be there, it's obvious, but when you have the accent, there is something of the earth that you carry with you, at least in your imagination ” analyzes Marlène Coulomb-Gully, professor at Toulouse II-Le Mirail University.
Friday, July 3, in the wake of the appointment of Prime Minister, Jean Castex the taunts were not long in coming. They most often came from anonymous people, but also from major figures. The editor-in-chief of Paris Match thus spoke of an accent "rocky like 3rd half of rugby", the leader of the rebellious France Jean-Luc Mélenchon was irritated by the "slowness" of his speech, while that MEP Nadine Morano declared with feigned or real naivety, a sort of “benevolent glottophobia”: “I love Jean Castex's accent, I feel like I'm on vacation. Even the former Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, a few weeks earlier, had had a funny "joke", according to Le Parisien : "I leave you with Jean Castex: he has a huge accent, but he is very competent. "
Turning point after World War II
A politician with an accent, one of the highest figures in the state, is rare. Rather that has become rare, because it was not always the case, explains Philippe Blanchet, director of research in language sciences at the Rennes II University. In the 18th century, attention focused on speaking French, at a time when regional specificities were still very strong. The French Revolution took care to build a national unity around the French language, seen as a vector of national unity.
This unification process lasted until about the Second World War, according to Philippe Blanchet, a period from which accents became suspicious. "First we said to people" no longer speak your languages "and then we told them" speak with our accent ", summarizes the specialist in sociolinguistics. Vincent Auriol [President of the Republic in 1954] and Paul Déroulède [MP from 1889 to 1901 and founder of the Ligue des patriotes] were people with an accent. This was not a problem because what we expected from people was that they speak French. Today, no national politician has an accent, except for Mr. Castex ”.
A "neutral" accent?
The accents are however legion in France. We can hardly believe it, as they are absent from our television sets, but half of French women and men express themselves with an intonation (33 million). And 27% say they know they are being laughed at "often" or "from time to time". This is even the case for 60% of people with a "very marked" accent.
The very term accent is misleading because it seems to indicate that one might not have one. There is simply a dominant accent which has established itself as "neutral". Like the masculine which was for a long time - and continues to be, in the language in particular - the mark of the generic, of the universal, or like the white which is still not thought of as a color.
The accent considered "neutral" is actually the accent of the elite, of a certain social class too. "Neutrality in terms of accent is that of central power," sums up Marlène Coulomb-Guilly, professor at the University of Toulouse 2. She notes that it is for this reason "tolerated among unionists and sports commentators ”, environments where popular origins are valued.
"I felt contempt"
This is why, apart from a few exceptions over the past 50 years, such as the Communist candidate Jacques Duclos or the former Minister of the Interior Charles Pasqua, accents have rarely reached the heights of the state or the parties. Men and women politicians said they had been mocked when they attempted a "career" at the national level. Jean-Claude Gaudin described how he had been called a “pizzaïolo” when he arrived at the National Assembly in 1978 as a young deputy.
It is even worse for women, often already mocked for their voice deemed too high compared to the male standard. "I broke all stereotypes, and indeed I felt contempt, and for my social origins and for my accent," explained Carole Delga, president of the Occitania region and former secretary of state, to France 3. " When you are a politician with an accent, you are expected to be more comical than a politician, ”also said Marie Arlette Carlotti, former Minister for the Handicapped, in the documentary With or without an accent . Discrimination which pushed an LREM deputy, Christophe Euzet, and some of his colleagues, to want to punish "glottophobia".
Strategy
However, there are times when appearing to be “close to the people” or to a certain region can also be useful in politics, and the accent can be part of an electoral strategy. The same Marie Arlette Carlotti was once pinned down by the late Le Petit Journal in 2013, for having adopted two different accents during two television programs. She went from a dominant (or "neutral") accent on LCI when she was questioned in her duties as minister to a very pronounced Marseille accent during the morning show of Canal +, when she was questioned about her candidacy in Marseille . All in the same day.
This is what is called, in linguistics, covariance or covariation, depending on whether it is spontaneous or strategic, according to Philippe Blanchet. Such an adaptation to his interlocutor is not necessarily calculated, explains the author of Discriminations: combat glottophobia . Is Jean Castex's accent spontaneous or calculated?
Casting
The choice of Emmanuel Macron takes on a particular meaning in a phase of regaining public opinion, post- "yellow vests". We have blamed the President of the Republic for being too distant, too "techno", too elitist, to neglect the territories, and in this sense, the choice of "Monsieur déconfinement", with his accent which indicates in a very visible way his past as a local elected representative may appear to be a strategic choice.
"This obviously seems to me to be a form of casting," analyzes Marlène Coulomb-Gully, who has worked a lot on voice in the media and in politics. If he only had that, it wouldn't be there, it's obvious, but when you have the accent, there is something of the earth that you carry with you, at least in your imagination ”
Philippe Blanchet makes the assumption that Emmanuel Macron may have wanted to "compensate for this image of the president of the rich with someone who has a marker of rural roots". And "use someone whose appearance is sympathetic connotation to embed a policy that will possibly be austerity".
Reversing the stigma
The "stigma" is never stigma eternally, at all times, in all situations. They can also be used in “positive”, as we showed in a book co-written with Mathilde Larrère. This is called the "reversal of the stigma," explained sociologist Erwing Goffman. Mocked at her accent, the candidate Eva Joly had made a video praising the accents of the world, highlighting the richness brought by the differences.
"I believe in territories", continues to repeat the former departmental adviser of the Pyrenees-Orientales, saying "proud" of his accent. And this may already have worked, if we are to believe this responsible macronist, according to whom the tone has already "changed", for the better, among the mayors of France.
The fact remains that a positive bias remains a bias. As one of the authors of I have an accent recommended , so what? , Michel Feltin-Palas: "Establishing an equivalence, positive or negative, between a person's intonation and their supposed moral or intellectual qualities is a priori . Jean Castex - like anyone else - must be judged by his actions and his words, not by the way he expresses himself. "
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