Multiculturalism and the catachresis of otherness: Settling Gypsies, unsettling Gypsy belongings

Abstract

Triggered by Gypsy accounts about a European Union development project designed to create a Gypsy settlement in Parakalamos, a village on the Greek-Albanian border (in north-west Greece), the article draws attention to some of the deceptively brittle ways in which the recent emphasis on 'recognition', 'visibility' and 'self-identification' -in the context of discourses about multiculturalism -cannot be applied to all groups, and, under specific circumstances can lay the grounds for the catachresis (misuse and/or condemnation) of Gypsies' 'be-longing' -its mis-recognition.

Making a difference without creating a difference: Super-diversity as a new direction for research on Roma minorities

“…Here I briefly outline the work that has already been achieved in cultural studies, political science, sociology and empirical research. In cultural studies, the analysis of Roma presence in film, music and TV programmes both reveal the racialised roles at times imposed on Roma minorities (Berna´th and Messing, 2013;Imre, 2011, Ko´cze´, 2009 and the work of Timea Junghaus), but also the possibilities of creativity from original output that can 'affirm anti-essentialist identities with the strategies of mesztizaje and creolite´' (Imre, 2005: 95, see also Theodosiou, 2011). There is clear evidence that Roma people are not only public performers of such hybrid displays of identities, drawing on super-diverse repertoires but are also members of the audience (Tremlett, 2012).…”

Demotic or Demonic? Race, Class and Gender in ‘Gypsy’ Reality TV

“…In addition, Romani studies has either ignored or been dismissive of TV engagement leading to a rather ‘anachronistic and idealised image of the Gypsy as a figure unaffected by contemporary popular culture’ (Imre and Tremlett, 2011: 92). All these factors link to the criticism that Romani studies remains ‘isolated’ from other academic subjects, running the risk of reproducing essentialized representations of ‘the Gypsies’ (for further discussions see Durst, 2011; Lemon, 2000; Theodosiou, 2011; Tremlett, 2009, 2012b; Willems, 1997). This article contributes to Romani studies by considering how ‘race’ and ‘class’ are represented by such shows, and explores what its popularity begins to tell us about the shifting dynamics of reality TV and wider representations of Gypsy and Traveller communities.…”

Situated Learning in Young Romanian Roma Successful Learning Biographies

“…Travelling and migration may further impair ethnical classifications (Arayici, 1998;Theodosiou, 2011). • People regarded as 'Roma ethnics' may identify and represent themselves as such, or may deny their 'Roma ethnicity', which may differ from researchers' or interviewers' labelling of the subjects as 'Roma' (Ladányi & Szelényi, 2001;Theodosiou, 2011). However, 'the number of those who classify themselves Roma, but in the interviewers' view are not Roma is likely to be negligible' (Ladányi & Szelényi, 2001, p. 84).…”

“…Given the relatively scarce Roma literature (Stewart, 2013), especially from Romania, this study builds on previous studies from other European countries. For instance, Abajo and Carrasco (2004) describe findings from Spain, Clough Marinaro and Sigona (2011) from Italy, Kyuchukov (2000) from Bulgaria, Lee and Warren (1991) and Levinson (2008) from the United Kingdom (UK), Ljujic et al (2012) from Serbia, and Theodosiou (2011) from Greece. The generalisability of their findings is not taken for granted and should be carefully considered.…”