1.In Shilpa Dave’s piece titled, “Apu’s Brown Voice”, he explores the effects and meaning behind the concept of “brown voice” and South Asian accents. The author argues that brown voice reinforces a stereotype and viewpoint on South Asians in the United States, despite what they may actually be going through or their actual positioning in society. The emphasis on this stereotype has now formed views on South Asians and perpetuated stereotypes against them, setting unnecessary expectations with negative implications.
2. Some of the examples that Dave includes are from television shows that include South Asian characters with accents, most notably Apu from The Simpsons. The author shows how the popularity of the show has led to the creation of the stereotype of what South Asians act and sound like, whilst also revealing something about Americans themselves and the impact of television. As Dave states himself, “Apu, a fictional construction, helps us to revise theories of racial performance and thereby examine American racial hierarchies and formations of Asian American communities in popular culture” (Dave 316). As a result, we see the effects of voice and how it forms the way we view other races and ethnicities. The author also cites outside sources and books in order to justify and illustrate some of the differences in how Asian Americans and South Asians in America are different and not necessarily included in the same category due to historical differences and perceptions. For example, as Dave states, “South Asian immigrants have been highly individualized as a group by their cultural behavior that separates them physically and psychologically from the term and group identity of Asian American even though their racial classification has been Asian American” (Dave 329). Consequently, by being separated from the label of Asian American, there is some differences that give South Asians some of the privileges of whiteness, due to some of the colonial history they have faced. Therefore, they are set at a different standard than most Asian Americans and are expected different things, with the intense model minority mindset present.
3. The term that this entire article is centered upon is “brown voice”. The author defines “brown voice” as the “act of speaking in the Indian English accent associated with South Asian nationals and immigrants” (Dave 317). It is what separates South Asians, but also gives them privilege and a feeling of otherness. Furthermore, Dave mentions “British colonial mimicry” which is the “native adopting the habits and mannerisms of the colonizer or in this case the Indian becoming the perfect British citizen” (Dave 328).
4. The points that the author mentions reminds me of how some people feel that Crazy Rich Asians has a lack of representation and is “not Asian enough” because it primarily features Chinese people and there isn’t a presence of a Singaporean accent. Furthermore, there are few South Asians or “dark-skin” Asians present in the movie, so many people have been critical for the casting choices and direction that the movie took. It reminds us that although Crazy Rich Asians is a step in the right direction of representation, more needs to be done in order to gain equal and adequate representation of all ethnicities and races.
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