Oh, fascinating article! I definitely want to read everything you write about dance, you're uniquely positioned to illuminate the oldest and most pervasive case of cultural appropriation and orientalism in the west. It's quite incredible that we're still having these conversations (think, Rosalia insisting that Flamenco doesn't only belong to the Roma, while using a slur) while actual Romani artists are doubly marginalized. Goran Bregović got famous off of plagiarism and cultural appropriation. If I were to count the most egregious instances, I'd be writing a novel-length piece. As a middle Easterner, when I see such things happening, I get to figuratively smack people over the head with Said's book, the Roma get no such privilege because stealing their traditions and discriminating them at the same time is basically a pillar of European cultural identity.
Thank you for reading, your own work really crystallizes a lot for me! Very helpful confirmation. I am a bit alone among Romani writers and academics. They just want human rights and are trying to get away from the stereotypes of our culture, like that of the dancer. I was with them until I realized I was killing the knowledge within that I just knew like I knew like I knew to be true. Dance however can hold that in a way that I hope keeps us focused on culture, the body, the person that is that body, the land and so on.
And thank you for calling out Rosalia. I’m so exhausted from people pretending that’s innovation when she had to go to conservatory to learn what we learn in our own families when we were very young.
Haha, well... So many such examples. Looking forward to reading more from you, and if you have any pointers about authors who write about different linguistic topics and Romani dialectology, I'd really appreciate that! :)
I would start here. I’m a member and most of the language people are really really great. Just know our language is typically forbidden to be taught to others, and doing so cost the lives of many in the holocaust https://eriac.org/ I’ve always wanted to study Iranian and Persian culture more as they are our part of our history, that is usually lied about. We came from what is now India and Iran to Europe and we brought all of that knowledge and information. The gypsylorists lie and act like we came from poverty to steal from Europe, which was already robbed completely by crazy cult leaders and war lords in the ruins of the Middle Ages
Oh, fascinating article! I definitely want to read everything you write about dance, you're uniquely positioned to illuminate the oldest and most pervasive case of cultural appropriation and orientalism in the west. It's quite incredible that we're still having these conversations (think, Rosalia insisting that Flamenco doesn't only belong to the Roma, while using a slur) while actual Romani artists are doubly marginalized. Goran Bregović got famous off of plagiarism and cultural appropriation. If I were to count the most egregious instances, I'd be writing a novel-length piece. As a middle Easterner, when I see such things happening, I get to figuratively smack people over the head with Said's book, the Roma get no such privilege because stealing their traditions and discriminating them at the same time is basically a pillar of European cultural identity.
Thank you for reading, your own work really crystallizes a lot for me! Very helpful confirmation. I am a bit alone among Romani writers and academics. They just want human rights and are trying to get away from the stereotypes of our culture, like that of the dancer. I was with them until I realized I was killing the knowledge within that I just knew like I knew like I knew to be true. Dance however can hold that in a way that I hope keeps us focused on culture, the body, the person that is that body, the land and so on.
And thank you for calling out Rosalia. I’m so exhausted from people pretending that’s innovation when she had to go to conservatory to learn what we learn in our own families when we were very young.
Haha, well... So many such examples. Looking forward to reading more from you, and if you have any pointers about authors who write about different linguistic topics and Romani dialectology, I'd really appreciate that! :)
I would start here. I’m a member and most of the language people are really really great. Just know our language is typically forbidden to be taught to others, and doing so cost the lives of many in the holocaust https://eriac.org/ I’ve always wanted to study Iranian and Persian culture more as they are our part of our history, that is usually lied about. We came from what is now India and Iran to Europe and we brought all of that knowledge and information. The gypsylorists lie and act like we came from poverty to steal from Europe, which was already robbed completely by crazy cult leaders and war lords in the ruins of the Middle Ages