Bloch, Maurice. "Why Do Malagasy Cows Speak French?" How We Think They Think.

New York:
Routledge, pp. 193-195 (Canvas).

This was a really great reading and I thought the power of this was in its conciseness and
focused response to a specific question. I would never have thought of the discussions this reading
makes – that people would so internalize the power structures that language can create and use the
language as a representation for authority. Interestingly, it got me thinking that I had actually heard
people in India also use English in similar settings when trying to mock rules or show seriousness. In fact,
even my parents might shift to English to show that they are really serious about academic or career
related things, although I’m not sure if it’s because it’s merely easier to discuss these in English given the
content or if it’s largely about authority.

Alim, Samy. 2006. ’Talkin Black in this White Man’s World’: Linguistic Supremacy, Linguistic Equanimity,
and the Politics of Language,” in Roc the Mic Right pp. 51-68. (Canvas)

The points Alim makes here has been very obvious to me throughout my life and really hit home
with me. When he says things like “language and communicative norms of those in power … that tend to
be labeled as 'standard,' … often goes unrecognized,” it’s clear that when I was in India and the
educated elite would speak English in a fake British accent, while the lower class you go the more
broken languages would get and the more local they would get. In India, it often feels like people
purposely learn certain versions of languages and then make it “standard” or “elite” to stake their claim
of superiority. Funnily, when those same people come to America, they again have to adjust even their
elite Indian accent is still viewed as Apu’s accent from the Simpsons and given the “Thank you come
again” kinds of jokes. This is also really interesting because just the other day a friend of mine heard me
speaking on the phone with my parents – even when I speak English with them, I use my original Indian
accent in which I learned English growing up in India. But after coming here, I adjusted to fit it and avoid
being an outsider – but is this American accent of mine any faker or less authentic than my Indian one? I
don’t think so, because I simply replaced one societally imposed accent (Indian upper class) with
another (American coastal accent).

Schieffelin, B. 2000. Introducing Kaluli Literacy. In Kroskrity, Paul, ed. Regimes of Language: Ideologies,
Polities, and Identities. Santa Fe: School of Am. Research (Canvas).

The Murray Rule definitely made a lot of sense to me, and throughout my life I have found that
people find their mother tongue to be a lot sweeter and a great shrine of the people’s soul. In fact, I
don’t just think it’s about one’s mother tongue, but even beyond about one’s vocabulary, accent, and
what certain words and sounds represent. For example, I have heard the closeness (or judgement) that
can be passed on someone who says “water” as “wudder” the way certain people from Pennsylvania
might – but some might feel comfortable and at home with one who says that while another would
think of him/her as inferior. My experiences have been in various places in India where I would shift
languages and see the change that would occur – speaking in English, things would be formal, and
others would be trying to impress. Shifting to Hindi in a state like Gujarat where everyone speaks Hindi,
but Gujarati is native would lead to people getting a bit more casual but still not completely homely.
Then, when I would get to Gujarati, people would feel like your family or close friends in their
interaction because of the closeness language could bring.