Gypsies

The Western use of the term gypsy denotes an ethnic group believed to have migrated out from India approximately1,200 years ago, spreading throughout Europe, the Americas, and other countries. Known by many names (Tattare in Sweden; Tsiganes, Getan, or Manus, in France; Tchingheane in Turkey; Zingare in Italy; Zincali in Spain; Zigeuner in Germany; Cigany in Hungary; Tsygane in Russia), this ethnic group often, but not always, identifies themselves as Rom (singular), Roma (plural), Romni (feminine singular), Rom (masculine singular),or Romani (adjective). The origin of the termRom is believed to be a modification of the Sanskrit word Dom, a man of low caste who performs song and dance for a living.

[Page 1116]Gypsies are what is termed a diaspora population (dispersed group living outside a homeland). Believed to have left India for reasons that are still unclear, it is speculated they were connected with military activity in India against the Turk, Afghani, and other military forces invaders leading to migration 1,200 years ago.

Current Gypsy population size is difficult to accurately establish due to absence of accurate census data, but estimates range from 8 to 10 million Gypsy people worldwide, who are residing in at least 40 different countries. During the past 1,200 years, this ethnic group has experienced a history of widespread mobility and marginality, while enduring momentous, continuous, and extreme prejudice, hostility, and violence against them by the people in the countries they moved into. The frequent moving within countries was motivated by either their choice or others' force and depended upon the social climate of the host country at the time. They were the ultimate strangers, feared and used as scapegoats for whatever problems local peoples were coping with at the time that needed a concrete explanation—hence, blame the strangers.

Adaptation and segregation are key factors to understanding the Gypsy way of life. They tend to live simultaneously in two different worlds: the exterior imposed non-Gypsy world and the internal constructed Gypsy world. The differences between the two lifestyles reinforce prevailing Gypsy practices; unique Gypsy language usage, social customs, religious practices, and political and economic institutions are all effectively used to mark the boundaries that divide them from others. Ethnic boundaries in the nature of Fredrik Barth's dichotomy of “we” versus “they” are established, reinforced through contrasts, and maintained to divide and separate. Unique identifying characteristics have been developed over time that reinforce the necessity for group separateness, and for the Gypsies these include the group-reinforcing tendencies of being biologically self-perpetuating, internally sharing specific cultural values, and using shared internal communication forms and other unique characteristics that function to enhance and maintain border divisions. These peoples then can identify themselves as being necessarily different from others, reinforcing the separation. It is useful to add Manning Nash's (1978) description of an ethnic group as being a “self-conscious group within a nation state” with “boundary marking values” that include defining cultural regulators of “kinship” (family, partners, friends), “commensality” (food preferences and taboos) and “common cult” (religious practices), which form a strong barrier between a specific ethnic group and the larger society. The boundary-maintaining mechanisms then allow Gypsies a cohesive reinforced coexistence within the boundaries and also provides a means of distancing themselves from non-Gypsies (Gaje)through reflection, interpretation, and reinforcement of the absolute necessity of reinforcing the differences.

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