Kings without Countries: Problems in the Formation of a Gypsy National Identity—Territoriality, Language, Identity

Abstract

The author examines the historical and contemporary obstacles to and opportunities for the development of a cohesive national Gypsy identity and argues that, given their marginalized place in European society, Gypsy communities could better position themselves politically and socially by developing a common sense of identity as strong as the undifferentiated, negative perception non-Gypsy societies hold of them. Elements of such a hypothetical program would include cultivation of a high, written form of Romany, development of educational institutions to foster an intellectual elite, the spread of a common history of the Gypsy origins as an Indian people, and psychological identification with some as yet unidentified homeland.