Romani Culture And Gypsy Identity - Term Paper Example

Romani Culture And Gypsy Identity Abstract Gypsies, Travellers, Romani—by whatever name these nomadic groups are known, their reputation as thieves and hustlers precedes them. Persecuted throughout the centuries in Europe, the horrific culmination of that persecution came during the World War II when Hitler, seeking to purify the German race of non-Aryan people, killed thousands of gypsies in his infamous concentration camps. What is little known and studied is that these often misunderstood nomadic people possess a valid culture with its historical basis in place and time. Origins of the Nomadic Life Since the basis of gypsy life and culture comes mostly from stories and the Romani language, it has been difficult to pin point their exact origins. However, it is generally conceded to have been somewhere in the middle east, since according to Fraser (1992) the first written evidence appears in Persia in the writings of the Arabian historian Hamza of Ispahan (c.950), which place the origins in musicians sent from India at the request of the then king. It was there that Roma developed its characteristic features we know today, and where its strange and indecipherable dialect currently spoken developed, heavily influenced by the Persian, into three main branches. Fraser ((1992) also suggests that Persian conquests in India may have also contributed to the migration of groups which eventually became the Roma in about 227 A.D. Migrations to Europe Pre-history must be considered murky at best. Marushiakova,Popov, Kenrick (2001) generally concede that the Roma began, in a chronology of migrations, leaving Persia for Europe in the fifth century, driven by the White Hun invasion from Central Asia. In later centuries it was the result of Arab invasions and the collapse of the Persian Empire. One Roma group settled in Syria, Palestine and eventually made their way to Spain. A second lesser group settled in the Caucasus, and a third largest group in the Balkans, “within the boundaries of the Byrantine Empire” (Marushiakova,Popov, Kenrick, 2001, p. 13). In 1893 the Hungarian kingdom “sought to find a solution to the so-called problem of wandering gypsies who were considered an anachronism in a modern centralized state” (Cohen, 1995, p.136). This combined with the dissolution of slavery can be construed as the possible genesis of more massive migrations to Western Europe and indeed, to a lesser degree, other countries including North and South America. Gypsy Lifestyle and Culture While today there is no single Roma culture, customs are summarized by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (2007) as a general adaptation of the religion of the society in which they live, combined with old traditions of charms, curses, talismans and ritual healings. A good example is the three-name tradition: the first, kept secret between the child and the mother; the second, the real name so to speak, is given at private baptism; the third given at baptism in church if a formality and rarely used except in legal dealings with the host culture. Traditional notions of impurity include the pregnant woman. It is a top down patriarchal society dominated by men. Early marriage is common. As Jahn (2010) found that while “No statistics exist on the number of underage girls forced into illegal marriage...dozens of documented examples...of Roma girls being ‘married off’ at twelve or thirteen indicate that such cases are no rarity in the gypsy world” (par 9-10). Marriage is a rather formal affair, with formal parental requests, dowries, and strict prohibitions regarding marrying outside of the group. The impurity issue is of grave importance in most tribes and acts against these norms severely punishable, Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (2007) writes... Marimé is a state of impurity brought on a person by the violation of a purity taboo. It also means a ‘sentence of expulsion imposed for violation of purity rules or any behavior disruptive to the Roma community.’ Some Roma consider the part of a woman's body below the waist to be dirty or polluted, because it is associated with menstruation. In many tribes, women wear long skirts, the bottoms of which must not touch a man other than her husband. (par. 3) Yet perhaps the most superstitious of rituals involves death—an interesting combination of Eastern reincarnation philosophy and gypsy voodoo. Upon a death the living must make certain any grievances they had with the deceased are settled, and the nostrils are plugged to prevent disgruntled spirits from returning. In the Egyptian burial mode of Pharos, items are placed in the coffin for use in the next world—a residual practice, perhaps, left over from days in the Middle East. Other possessions are sold to non-Roma as a way of keeping the deceased on the other side. If Roma or all gypsy groups would be indentified in one statement it would be as Stewart argues in Acton et al (1997), that gypsies are a successful subgroup within a main group “adapting to their changed conditions in order to remain the same” (p. 84)/ In essence they are modern day entrepreneurs, constantly creating new ways to earn a living by providing services to the communities they touch upon in their travels. Gypsy Law (Romaniya): A Tradition Apart Despite all we know superficially from various sources regarding gypsy culture and tradition, Harris in Weyrauch (2001) argues “Roma have been able to maintain an impressive degree of cultural integrity not only by absolutely excluding gadje [non-Gypsies] from their private lives, their law, their personal practices, and their values, but by excluding them even from knowledge about Romani language and social institutions” (Forward, p. ix). Much of the guesswork reflected in what has been written so far affirms this. It is impossible to address all of the nuances of Gypsy law in this short space. However, it is important to note what Caffrey and Mundy in Weyrauch (2001) point out the informal justice system and group forms of control are very possibly beneficial to the host society. Much of Romaniya law centers on the role of woman, and as such and its view of women as ‘polluted’ (Weyrauch, 2001, p. 244) is reminiscent of Shariah Law under the Islamic tradition, also based on ancient oral traditions, some of which date back to India. Law pertaining to the body are particularly stringent, and those pertaining to “gender are matters of intense concern to the Roma and must be regulated by law in minute detail to prevent contamination” (Weyrauch, 2001, p. 245). While the above sounds harsh and unacceptable to the Western mind, it is important to note that other Gypsy laws and regulations are more geared toward helping members live a just life and are not especially punitive. They are for the most “self executing, more comparable to the function of...conscience” (Weyrauch, 2001, p 245). Gypsy Culture and The State Persecution of gypsies has gone on for centuries, the most obvious of which occurring during the Holocaust. However, gypsy populations because of their nomadic and itinerant lifestyle have often received negative attention. The most recent from the Sarkozy government in France, where charges of scapegoating to blame Gypsies for current social ills has resulted in the deportation of gypsies to Romania. In Ireland, where Traveller populations for years have co-existed on a tenuous level with the main populations as tinkers, efforts are continually afoot to force groups to settle in trailer park communities—an effort largely a failure. What Ireland according to Cohen (1995) should remember is: “The gypsies of Europe do not think of themselves as a diaspora population...they are homeless and quite happy thus” (p. 136). Perhaps the most obvious and prominent success story in terms of gypsy assimilation without assimilation is that of Andalucía, that part of southern Spain that might be considered rather than a “gypsy” sub-culture, the culture itself. And it is the dance of the gypsy, the flamenco, that is its most prominent feature. Each year thousands of tourists are drawn to the area to enjoy the experience. While the origins of the flamenco are unclear, it is generally thought it has its roots in Indian shadow dancing, and/or an amalgamation of all cultures-- Greek, Roman, Indian, Moorish and Jewish cultures. Both theories are consistent then with the roaming gypsy tribes. In post Spain 1782, when the persecution of the gypsies was ended, the music became known as gypsy music “in defiance of all those who refuse to concede that flamenco music originated with the gypsies... Up until at least 1860, gypsies were its exclusive interpreters; only after that date did the ‘payos,’ nongypsies, gradually start to learn it from them” (Schneiner, 1990, p.35). Whatever its roots, the dance form has become an international cultural and artistic icon for which southern Spain represents its identity as separate and distinct from other parts of the country. The area, unique in the world, is gypsy, a place where gypsies have ceased to become nomadic and have settled into an area that, also unique in the world, is their own. Conclusion As a culture, or series of cultures, gypsies represent a valid group that chooses to live a lifestyle different from settled populations but a legitimate culture none the less. What they have contributed or not contributed to the cultures they inhabit is arguable. That in Ireland the Travellers have gone from town to town, providing services needed but not provided by the population at large is documented. That they have taken a dance form, the flamenco, and the given the world a spectacular artistic creation is also fact. Their cultural traditions are a unique and valid. Their nomadic life has no doubt caused them hardship--hardships brought about by more static cultures uneasy with those for whom movement is life itself. That gypsies in Spain have found a home is more aberration than norm—an anti-cultural anomaly. References Actor, T.A., Munday, G. (1997). Romani culture and Gypsy identity. Herfordshire: University of Herfordshire Press.   Cohen, R. (1995) The Cambridge survey of world migration. Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. Fraser, A. (1992). The Gypsies. England: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Jahn, G. (2010) “Sister’s lifestyles show Gypsy cultures evolution.” AP, December 12, the eagle.com on: http://www.theeagle.com/world/Sisters--lifestyles-show-Gypsy-culture-s-evolution Marushiakova,E., Popov, V. & Kenrick, D. (2001). Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire: A contribution to the history of the Balkans. Herfordshire: Herfordshire Press. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (2007). “The Roma: Their beliefs and practices.” http://www.religioustolerance.org/roma2.htm Schreiner, C.(1990). Flamenco: Gypsy Dance and Music from Andalusia. (tr. Molly Comerford Peters) Portland, OR: Amadeus Press. Weyrauch, W. O. (2001). Gypsy law: Romani legal traditions and culture. Berkeley: University of California Press. Read More