WHO ARE ROMA IN THE CITY? ABOUT LANGUAGE, IDENTITY, EXCLUSIONS, AND AXIOLOGICAL STEREOTYPES

Over several centuries, powerfully impactful stereotypes and cultural cliches have clustered around Roma and become anchored not only in colloquial language or popular culture, but also in the discourse of politicians, officers, and local and nationwide administration workers, as well as surfacing in some research publications. For this reason, it is crucial to scrutinize multiple myths about the homogeneity of this group, its nomadic character, and its reluctance to integrate, along with the ascription to its members of some allegedly intrinsic traits which are commonly perceived as negative (e.g., laziness, deceitfulness, propensity for crime, and/or inclination to beggary). These stereotyped perceptions are discussed in my article, where I build on critical Romani studies to propose an alternative framework in which to approach the historical genesis ascribed to Roma. At the same time, I depict the distinctive cultural situation of this group, which is bound up with the specificity of the Romani language and the traditional unwritten moral code, called Romanipen. I also offer a brief account of the persecution-marked history of various Roma groups. In doing this, I draw on the notion of Romaphobia. In this article, I look at language, in this case the Romani language, as a phenomenon that contributes to the exclusion of a cultural group that uses it on a daily basis. It is a linguistic-cultural and political history of alienation, subordination and marginalization.

Roma, city, language, exclusion, Romaphobia, minority, stereotypes, values