Indian Accents: Brown Voice and Racial Performance in American Television and Film

Introduction: Rethinking Accents in America

introduction Rethinking Accents in America Apu: Oh, you are just noticing the way I am talking to you now. “Much Apu about Nothing,” The Simpsons, airdate May 5, 1996 (my emphasis) In 1990, the animated Indian immigrant character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon made his first extended appearance on the Fox network prime-time series The Simpsons. One of his signature characteristics was his distinct Indian accent. In the episode “Much Apu about Nothing,” Apu feels compelled to change the Indian accent he has been speaking on the show for the previous six years because his position is threatened by the imminent passage of Springfield political legislation Proposition 24 to deport undocumented immigrants.1 Apu tries to solve his citizenship problem by obtaining an illegal identification that proclaims him to be an American citizen, but as a result, he feels he has to deny his own ethnic identity. He proceeds to prove his American citizenship by donning new clothes and imitating behavior he thinks are culturally American: sporting a cowboy hat, wearing a New York Mets baseball shirt, and speaking in an accent that sounds like John Wayne. His garment exchange does not really alter his identity because he looks like Apu dressed up in a costume. Apu’s transformative moment hinges on changing his vocal accent to one of an undisputed movie icon of American culture. When he says to Homer Simpson, “You are noticing the way I am talking to you now,” he emphasizes both the absence of his Indian accent and his “new” manner of speech. It is Apu’s use of an iconic American accent rather than his visual façade that causes Homer to do a physical double take because hearing a different accent Dave_Indian text.indd 1 1/8/13 10:36 AM come from Apu defies conventional expectations about how Apu and South Asians in the United States are supposed to talk. When he changes his accent, he changes his racialized position as a foreigner and noncitizen to a (differently racialized) citizen: “It turns out that I am an American citizen after all. Apparently, I just plumb forgot about it.” His Indian accent may allow him to live in the United States, but it does not award him the privileges of American identity that include belonging to or being associated with American culture. His use of American colloquialisms, such as “plumb,” and the effort he makes to sound “American” show that in fact he cannot “forget” about his relationship to issues of citizenship. He is under pressure to constantly prove it. The emphasis on “the way” that he talks exposes the vocal performance of racial identity in the United States and emphasizes accent as a specific racializing trope for South Asian Americans. In the broadest sense, Indian Accents: Brown Voice and Racial Performance in American Television and Film examines the representations and stereotypes of South Asian Americans in relation to immigrant narratives of assimilation in American film and television. In this book, I theorize the performance of accent as a means of representing race and particularly national origin beyond visual identification. For South Asians, accent simultaneously connotes difference and privilege. To focus on an Indian vocal accent is to reconsider racialization predicated on visual recognition. One of the primary definitions of accent is the manner of pronunciation. An accent involves verbal intonations that stress particular syllables so the manner of speaking is just as significant as what is being said. As an animated figure what makes Apu recognizable as an Indian immigrant is the way he talks: He speaks in understandable English (privilege), but he speaks with an accent (difference). Accent not only includes tonal qualities but also involves word choice, arrangement of words, and cultural expressions that are rooted in national (and regional) expressions of identity. By saying “plumb,” Apu evokes an American expression affiliated with John Wayne and an American cowboy. A Southern accent might emphasize slower speech patterns or expressions, such as “y’all.” Examining Apu’s accent sets the foundation for how accents work beyond spoken language in the process of racialization. The definition of accent is not limited to sound. In reference to decoration or fashion, an accent operates as an accessory or minor piece that highlights the dominant look or feature. An Indian accent therefore also becomes a cultural object, such as a hairstyle or a piece of clothing or a sidekick character , that adds to the overall picture. It is a contrasting detail. An accent piece, for example, suggests...