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The Romani People in the European Cultural Imagination: Alexander Pushkin, Prosper Mérimée and Virginia Woolf

Scholarly literature on Roma is scarce compared to other racial groups as a lack of academic interest, financial limitations, and other social and political factors has constrained it. This resulted in a cross-cultural circulation of misinformation about Romani people and the reproduction of Romani...

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Main Author: Siyam, Nadya
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2024
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access_status_str Open Access
author Siyam, Nadya
author_browse Siyam, Nadya
author_facet Siyam, Nadya
author_sort Siyam, Nadya
collection Thesis
description Scholarly literature on Roma is scarce compared to other racial groups as a lack of academic interest, financial limitations, and other social and political factors has constrained it. This resulted in a cross-cultural circulation of misinformation about Romani people and the reproduction of Romani myths and stereotypes in fiction. This project aims to analyze selected literary works on Gypsies from three Eastern and Western European countries and two periods to unpack the cultural and political roots of Romani literary misrepresentation. This research employs a range of theoretical frameworks chosen to put the Gypsy protagonists under maximum spotlight without unnecessary repetition, such as social contract theories, new historicism, criminology, symptomatic reading, Orientalism/ Gypsylorism, and psychoanalysis. The research findings show that literature plays an essential role in suppressing marginalized narratives about Romanies. Literature also makes it more challenging to debunk misinformation about the group as its influence creates a fixed stereotypical image in the mind of the non-Romani recipient. The research concludes that Gypsies in literature have been associated with colonized nations, and the place (setting) plays a major role in racializing Gypsies, thus facilitating their sexualization and exoticisation. The employment of the Gypsy symbol in literature shows the flexibility of the symbol as it fits into political, social, and gender contexts and is used as a tool for criticism and self-exploration.
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institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:35:54.296Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
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source_str AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3272 The Romani People in the European Cultural Imagination: Alexander Pushkin, Prosper Mérimée and Virginia Woolf Siyam, Nadya Scholarly literature on Roma is scarce compared to other racial groups as a lack of academic interest, financial limitations, and other social and political factors has constrained it. This resulted in a cross-cultural circulation of misinformation about Romani people and the reproduction of Romani myths and stereotypes in fiction. This project aims to analyze selected literary works on Gypsies from three Eastern and Western European countries and two periods to unpack the cultural and political roots of Romani literary misrepresentation. This research employs a range of theoretical frameworks chosen to put the Gypsy protagonists under maximum spotlight without unnecessary repetition, such as social contract theories, new historicism, criminology, symptomatic reading, Orientalism/ Gypsylorism, and psychoanalysis. The research findings show that literature plays an essential role in suppressing marginalized narratives about Romanies. Literature also makes it more challenging to debunk misinformation about the group as its influence creates a fixed stereotypical image in the mind of the non-Romani recipient. The research concludes that Gypsies in literature have been associated with colonized nations, and the place (setting) plays a major role in racializing Gypsies, thus facilitating their sexualization and exoticisation. The employment of the Gypsy symbol in literature shows the flexibility of the symbol as it fits into political, social, and gender contexts and is used as a tool for criticism and self-exploration. 2024-02-28T08:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2229 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3272/viewcontent/Thesis_2024_Nadya_Siyam_.docx.pdf Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain Romani Gypsy Gypsylorism Orientalism New Historicism Symptomatic Reading Femme Fatales Race making Criminalization Racialization. Arts and Humanities Comparative Literature English Language and Literature Ethnic Studies European History European Languages and Societies Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Indigenous Studies Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Russian Literature
spellingShingle Romani
Gypsy
Gypsylorism
Orientalism
New Historicism
Symptomatic Reading
Femme Fatales
Race making
Criminalization
Racialization.
Arts and Humanities
Comparative Literature
English Language and Literature
Ethnic Studies
European History
European Languages and Societies
Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Indigenous Studies
Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies
Russian Literature
Siyam, Nadya
The Romani People in the European Cultural Imagination: Alexander Pushkin, Prosper Mérimée and Virginia Woolf
title The Romani People in the European Cultural Imagination: Alexander Pushkin, Prosper Mérimée and Virginia Woolf
title_full The Romani People in the European Cultural Imagination: Alexander Pushkin, Prosper Mérimée and Virginia Woolf
title_fullStr The Romani People in the European Cultural Imagination: Alexander Pushkin, Prosper Mérimée and Virginia Woolf
title_full_unstemmed The Romani People in the European Cultural Imagination: Alexander Pushkin, Prosper Mérimée and Virginia Woolf
title_short The Romani People in the European Cultural Imagination: Alexander Pushkin, Prosper Mérimée and Virginia Woolf
title_sort romani people in the european cultural imagination alexander pushkin prosper merimee and virginia woolf
topic Romani
Gypsy
Gypsylorism
Orientalism
New Historicism
Symptomatic Reading
Femme Fatales
Race making
Criminalization
Racialization.
Arts and Humanities
Comparative Literature
English Language and Literature
Ethnic Studies
European History
European Languages and Societies
Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Indigenous Studies
Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies
Russian Literature
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2229
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3272/viewcontent/Thesis_2024_Nadya_Siyam_.docx.pdf
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