Historische Diskursanalyse der Literatur

Man bezeichnete sie als ¿geborene Diebe und Lügner¿, ¿Gefährten des Satans¿, ¿unzähmbare Wilde¿. Gleichzeitig schwärmte man von der ¿schönen Zigeunerin¿ und bewunderte insgeheim das ¿Naturvolk¿ - der Blick auf die Sinti und Roma ist seit 600 Jahren geprägt von Faszination und Verachtung.Klaus-Michael Bogdals brillant recherchiertes Werk untersucht die Darstellung der ¿Zigeuener¿ in der europäischen Literatur und Kunst vom Spätmittelalter bis heute, von Norwegen bis Spanien, von England bis Russland. Auf der Grundlage von unzähligen neuen Quellen, frühen Chroniken, Artefakten sowie Holocaust-Erinnerungen erzählt Bogdal eine epochen- und genreübergreifende Geschichte der Sinti und Roma.

'A magisterial contribution to the understanding of the cultural position of Romani people in Europe. ... nothing short of astounding' Literary Review<BR><BR>This remarkable book describes a dark side of European history: the rejection of the Roma from their initial arrival in the late Middle Ages to the present day. To Europeans, the Roma appeared to be in complete contradiction with their own culture, because of their mysterious origins, unknown language and way of life. As representatives of an oral culture, for centuries the Roma have left virtually no written records of their own. Their history has been conveyed to us almost exclusively through the distorted images that European cultures project.<BR><BR>Persecuted and shunned, the Roma nonetheless spread out across the continent and became an important, indeed indispensable element in the European imagination. It is impossible to conceive of the culture of Spain, southern France and much of Central Europe without this pervasive Romani influence.<BR><BR>Europe and the Roma brilliantly describes the 'fascination and fear' which have marked Europeans' response to the Romani presence. Countless composers, artists and writers have responded to Romani culture and to fantasies thereof. Their projections onto a group whose illiteracy and marginalization gave it so little direct voice of its own have always been a very uneasy mixture of the inspired, the patronizing and the frighteningly ignorant. The book also shows the link between cultural violence, social discrimination and racist policies that paved the way for the genocide of the Roma.