Visualising everyday ethnicity: moving beyond stereotypes of Roma minorities

ABSTRACT

The visual image of Roma people in the media is mired in racialised notions of ‘the other’. Whilst we know what Roma stereotypes look like, there is little clarity as to how a ‘non-stereotypical’ image might be constructed. In order to examine the non-stereotypical, two sources of images are analysed: (1) entrants from an anti-stereotype Roma photography competition and (2) self-representations produced by Roma participants during ethnographic research. The findings show that if ‘Roma’ is foregrounded as the subject, even a non-stereotypical approach can reproduce ‘difference’ (from a supposed ‘norm’). ‘Roma’ is thus, at the moment, still strongly linked to a notion of ethnicity that is seen as different and racialised. However, when ethnicity is not emphasised, but rather self-representations and the ‘everyday’, such orthodoxies are challenged. These sources provide a unique opportunity to create a deeper understanding of ‘non-stereotypical’ images in order to challenge misrepresentations and racism.

KEYWORDS:

• Photo elicitation
• Roma
• stereotype
• everyday
• representations
• racism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. ‘Roma’ is used frequently as an umbrella term for any groups associated with Roma, Gypsy or Traveller and so on. It can also be used as an ethnonym to denote a group of people with a particular ‘Rom’ ethnic identity which includes speaking a particular Romani language (for further discussion on the politics of Roma identity, ethnicity and labelling see Tremlett 2014). I justify the use of ‘Roma’ here as a broad category as I am looking at broad (often crude) representations of ‘Roma’/’non-Roma’. However ‘Hungarian Gypsy’ (magyarcigány) was used by local people in the town where I carried out my research, including people from Gypsy backgrounds, who did not usually recognise the term ‘Roma’ for themselves. ‘Roma’ minorities (Hungarian Gypsies make up one group) are said to make up about 4–6% of the population of Hungary, although this is likely to be an underestimation (see Schafft and Kulcsár 2015).

2. Many thanks to the three anonymous reviewers for their excellent suggestions that really helped to develop this article. I am also grateful to my two co-editors for their insightful comments in the course of writing and editing, and to the audience at the Challenging Romaphobia Symposium (Tuesday 3 November 2015, University of Brighton) for the lively discussions. Thanks also to University of Portsmouth colleagues Dr Stephen Harper and Dr Sophia Wood for their wise comments and advice.

3. This research was carried out thanks to a British Academy Small Grant awarded 2012–2014 (SG112414). I carried out all my research in Hungarian, a language I have been learning since 2000. In 2008, I passed the advanced-level Hungarian language oral and written exams (Hungarian State Accredited Language Examination, ‘Level C1’). For more discussion on my status as ‘less than fluent’ in the language and cultural practices of my research participants see Tremlett (2009) and Tremlett (Forthcoming).

4. Verzio website. Accessed 20 February 2017: http://www.verzio.org/2007/exhibition/index.html.

5. Ethical consent was sought from the participating young people in 2013, in accordance with UK ethical guidelines. All names of people and places have been changed to protect some anonymity. However, faces can be seen in the images. This was explained to each participant orally as well as in written form, with the options to remove photographs from the research altogether or have photographs described rather than published in publications if the participant so wished. Consent was given to show the images in this article.

6. See the case of a local authority in Hungary who only allowed benefits to those Roma families who could prove their cleanliness in the home: ‘Tiszta udvar, rendes ház’ [Clean Yard, Tidy House], published on the Jogtalanul [‘Unlawfully’] website, December 03 2012. Accessed 14 April 2016: http://jogtalanul.blog.hu/2012/03/12/tiszta_udvar_rendes_haz_10.

7. I was surprised that even his son, Adrienn’s partner Gábor, said he didn’t know how to ride well, and Adrienn said he only went to pose with his father's horses for the picture, he was actually quite scared of them. Gábor’s father chastised him for choosing the skinny horse for the picture as it had been ill. Gábor said he hadn’t even noticed – further showing his lack of interest in his father’s hobby.

8. Hungary has not escaped the trend, creating the ‘Hunglish’ word ‘szelfi’. Even the Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, posted a ‘szelfi’ of himself with his daughters on Facebook in 2014 prior to an election, and the picture gained a lot of media coverage, precisely because it was a ‘szelfi’ with coverage mocking Orbán’s serious expression and attempts as this new trend. http://444.hu/2014/03/15/orban-szelfi444/.

9. In this group, there are a few pictures that are posed self-portraits rather than strictly selfies (4 out of the 31). I felt these should still be in this category as they are very deliberately posed and appear to do the same ‘job’ as selfies (i.e. a flattering or posing-to-look-‘cool’ image of the person in question).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the British Academy [Grant Number: SG112414].