The Time Of The Gypsies

by Michael Stewart

Until 1989 it was official Communist policy in eastern Europe to absorb Gypsies into the “ruling” working class. Since 1989, the Gypsies have become the scapegoat of postcommunism. More Gypsies have had their houses burned and have been killed in racist attacks in the first six postcommunist years than in all the time since World War II. Today the Gypsies have taken the place of the Jews, feared when poor and isolated in ghettos and hated even more than their skill as traders has brought them unaccustomed wealth and entry to walks of life previously forbidden to them.The Time of the Gypsies is about the refusal of one group of Gypsies—the Rom—to abandon their way of life and accept assimilation into the majority population. It is a story about the sources of cultural diversity in modern industrial society and about the fear and hatred that such social and cultural difference may give rise to. The core of the book, based on the author’s eighteen months of observation of daily life in a Gypsy settlement, describes the cultivation, celebration, and reinvention of cultural difference and diversity by a people deemed by their “social superiors” to be too stupid and uncivilized to have a culture at all.The author, who is the only journalist to have lived in a community of eastern European Gypsies and learned their language, takes the reader on the journey of discovery that he himself made. The answer to seemingly trivial puzzles, such as why the visiting Gypsy woman sits on the author’s hat, all become part of the explanation of how this unique people, without a homeland but unlike any other diaspora population with no dream of a homeland, has sustained itself.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction

324 pages, Paperback

First published April 10, 1997

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database. ^9

In his 1998 publication, The Time of the Gypsies, Dr. Stewart reflects on the survial of the gypsies through in Hungary and their refusal to assimilate into the majority population. A second book Lilies of the Field (a volume co-edited with Sophie Day of Goldsmiths College and Akis Papataxiarchis of the University of the Aegean) focuses on marginal people who live for the moment. Lilies presents an ambitious theoretical comparison of peoples across the globe who share some of the Gypsies’ attitudes to time and history.

Currently Dr. Stewart is working on a study of Romany historical memory in relation to the Holocaust. His other current projects include a scheme supported by the British Council in Romania encouraging the fledgling Romanian Farmers’ Association. As the project director of an ESRC Transnational Communities’ Programme he is also orchestrating research on languages of identity among the Hungarian diaspora in Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.

He is also a member of the HESP working group on educational needs of Romany students.

Reviews

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

firstly, what's with the title? are they trying to tie in with the kusturica movie? this is a very dry sociology text with a lot of empirical research (read: statistics) and not enough ethnography. it's only about the roma in hungary, and it's really focused on shoplifting. yawn. still, it's not a load of crap about how 'free' these people are and it's not a 'they're a scourge' polemic either.

[Greg Dorchak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but extremely dense material. Personally it was so difficult to slog through I found myself reading pages two or three times each. I may have to revisit it at some point in the future. That being said, I found the information quite engrossing.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

So useful to illuminate many issues and themes in Anthropology, as well as being good practice for spotting the wide range of theoretical schools.

[Emily Carter-Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I write this as a social anthropology teacher and enthusiast rather than your average reader. Please note - this is not linked with the film of the same name and it is not a light-hearted, easy-read about Hungarian Roma gypsies.

I find this ethnographic study fascinating. It is takes somewhat of a particularistic perspective as it looks in detail about the historical background of this particular Roma society; which frames their customs and rituals.

Stewart spent time living with the Roma and in doing so, found out what is means to be 'romanes': living in the present, speaking Romany, within a very segregated and tight-knit community. To leave or assimilate in any way to Hungarian culture leaves you ostracised or open to gossip.

If you enjoy dissecting a society and examining it from an academic point of view then this is the book for you.

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uphill battle to read--very dense academic writing. But some interesting sketches of Roma life in Hungary.