UK: Roma researchers travel Gypsy-like

The persecuted, reviled and once forgotten Roma people are increasingly the subject of academic interest and research. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the social group known as the Gypsies has become a respectable academic field, according to Dr Michael Stewart, a social anthropologist from University College London.

"When I began studying Roma issues in Hungary in 1982, there were three of us, now there are around 70 researchers with about 50 young people across Europe doing their doctoral theses on Roma research," Stewart says.

The main areas of research are in anthropology, sociology, linguistics and ethnology. "In Eastern Europe, academics specialising in research on poverty and social exclusion focus largely on Roma people. I have just been talking to a brilliant young Hungarian economist about setting up a micro-credit banking scheme for the Roma, an example of bridging the gap between research and practice. There's a lot going on.

"My network has a mailing list of some 150 academics in Hungary who come to at least one of our seminars a year, so they are seriously interested in Roma. The summer school I run in Budapest every year has 50 applications for 20 places."

Forty years ago, when anthropologist Judith Okely earned her doctorate on English Travellers, it was a risky subject in which to gain academic recognition. The famous Norwegian anthropologist Frederik Barth failed his PhD for his work on the Tattare, the indigenous Gypsy population of Sweden, largely because examiners deemed the study of a local underclass unworthy. As academic research, this is now a respectable field, Stewart explains.

In linguistics, Professor Yaron Matras has helped Manchester University become the centre of Roma specialisation. With colleagues in Graz University, Austria and Aarhus University, Denmark, Matras has set up a lexical database, an online dictionary in Romani that allows for different spelling and vocabulary in 25 varieties of Romani that translates into around 15 languages. He also works with researchers in Prague and a network of graduate students in some 30 countries to build up the database.

"This is a major resource to support literacy in Romani across the world," he says. "The internet has revolutionised communication in this area as there was no commercial market for Romani. Now on the web we have genuine communication to a world-wide audience."

Although there is no reliable census of Roma people, Matras estimates there are upwards of 4 million Romani speakers across Europe. Many have lost their language, much in the same way, he says, that many Welsh people no longer speak Welsh.

His team has produced a DVD for use in schools and the wider community in 17 languages to promote awareness of Roma language, history and culture, sponsored by the UK government's education department. More than 10,000 copies have been downloaded from the site, with responses not only from Romani speakers but Russians and the large number of Spanish-speaking Romanis in South America.

Matras' next challenge will be to secure funding for his projects, as money is running out. So far, applications to the Heritage Lottery Fund and the education department have been unsuccessful.

diane.spencer@uw-news.com

Comment:
Interesting. I researched the culture of Gypsies in Sweden for my historical novel, The Swedish Gypsy, set in Stockholm at the turn of the 20th century. A valuable resource was the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, where I found 14 articles specific to Swedish Gypsies. I'm glad to see academia is starting to research Gypsies seriously; they are a fascinating people.

mapaulso@zianet.com