In the chapter, Apu’s Brown Voice by Shilpa Davé, in the book, East Main Street: Asian American popular culture, the author’s main argument is that “brown voice” in media creates a perception of South Asians through accents rather than visuals. With the main focus being on the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon from the cartoon series The Simpsons, she introduces her theory of “brown voice,” which explains that through accents, South Asians are perceived as a privileged model minority, and groups all of South Asia as one racial and culture identity.
Apu is one of the only South Asian character on television, even though the person that voices his character is not South Asian. Due to Apu becoming famous, he “emerges as a highly politicized representation of a Hindu from India who fulfills the ‘model minority’ stereotype of success through tolerance and hard work” (Davé, 323). Since he is the only recognizable South Asian in American television, the audience assumes what he does and believes is “stereotypical” of the South Asian community. He is pursuing his Ph.D. in computer science while also working, later running, a store called Kwik-E-Mart. His success in the show causes a perception of South Asians as highly educated individuals.
Also, since Apu is the only recognizable South Asian on television, he becomes the “voice” of all South Asians on television. This leads to an accent that is stereotyped to be South Asian throughout media. The writers of The Simpsons and the voice actor of Apu all stated that they could not “distinguish between India (a democracy that has a largely Hindu population) and Pakistan (a military-based government that is primarily Mulsim), nor are they aware of the tensions that currently and historically have defined the two nations” (324). This lack of knowledge of South Asia emphasizes the point that South Asians are lumped together regardless of linguistics, religions, politics, or cultural histories. Since they are unaware of the differences, the creation of Apu is a culmination of what writers, who are not South Asian, believe a person from India would act and sound like. There are no other recognizable South Asian character on television, making it difficult to illustrate the differences between South Asian cultures.
A key concept Davé refers to is the South Asians disconnecting themselves with the Asian American community and the Caucasian community. Davé explains that South Asians and Asian Americans tend to differentiate from one another due to the physical and historical differences. Many South Asian countries where colonized by the British, leading to the British educating the countries to “transform the natives into perfect British citizens” (327). This colonization led to South Asian countries with English tastes, morals, and intelligence, meaning that their believes are closer to the Caucasians rather than the Asian American community. However, many South Asians reject being “Caucasian” and refer to themselves as their respective countries because being “Caucasian” emphasizes the racial hierarchy. Learning English from the British created a class of English Indians, which reinforced the British identity. English Indians were seen as just mimics of the British, meaning that they could never truly be a British citizen. The British saw themselves as greater beings than the Indians due to educating them in the British language and their beliefs. Therefore, by accepting the title “Caucasian,” they are accepting their place in the British racial hierarchy as below white people and forever foreigners.
Another concept Davé refers to is accent. The authors talks about how the accent is what indicates a person to be South Asian due to the way syllables are stressed in certain words. Due to this unique mannerism, this way of speaking is heard as an “Indian accent,” leading to assumptions of the person speaking being foreign. The accent causes a distraction to the audience because they focus more one how one is saying something rather than what one is saying. The Indian accent is also an indication of the model minority. Due to many South Asian countries developing English habits and mannerisms during their colonization, they are seen as “privileged” and highly successful. Due to them being recognized by an accent, South Asians are seen as perpetual foreigners because they are heard to have accented English.
This chapter’s argument on accents of South Asians similar to an excerpt from the graphic novel American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang in that both show how a community’s differences causes them to never fully be accepted into American society. In the excerpt, Danny’s cousin, Chin-kee comes to visit him, which Danny is embarrassed about. This leads to Danny and his cousin getting into a physical fight; however, Danny punches his cousin’s head, leading to the Monkey King revealing himself to being in disguise. The Monkey King explains how his son was sent to Earth for a test, but his son later rejected the test and stayed on Earth for his pleasure. Instead of visiting his son, the Monkey King visits Danny to serve as his conscience. This is similar to this chapter in the fact that Danny is Asian American and wants to fit in, but believes his Asian culture is holding him back. Danny wanted to be seen as a normal white teenager, but in reality, he’s an Asian American. Chin-kee represents all the Asian stereotypes Danny is trying to avoid from the stereotypical accent to the way Asians are depicted as in media. Danny wants to be accepted by his fellow white classmates instead of being seen as “Asian.” Just like Danny, Indian Americans are trying to break the concept of the “brown voice.” Apu perpetuates a stereotype of all the South Asian community. Due to him being a popular character, all of South Asia is depicted as one group and seen as a privileged model minority. M. Night Shyamalan’s movies tries to fight off this stereotype by showing South Asian actors doing normal “American” activities. South Asians are stuck seen as foreigners even though many have lived their whole life in America. Just like Danny, they want to be seen as normal American citizens.