Gypsy World
The Silence of the Living and the Voices of the Dead
Translated by Catherine Tihanyi
115 pages
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22 halftones
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5-1/2 x 8-1/2
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© 2003
For many of us, one of the most important ways of coping with the death of a close relative is talking about them, telling all who will listen what they meant to us. Yet the Gypsies of central France, the Manuš, not only do not speak of their dead, they burn or discard the deceased's belongings, refrain from eating the dead person's favorite foods, and avoid camping in the place where they died.
In Gypsy World, Patrick Williams argues that these customs are at the center of how Manuš see the world and their place in it. The Manuš inhabit a world created by the "Gadzos" (non-Gypsies), who frequently limit or even prohibit Manuš movements within it. To claim this world for themselves, the Manuš employ a principle of cosmological subtraction: just as the dead seem to be absent from Manuš society, argues Williams, so too do the Manuš absent themselves from Gadzo society—and in so doing they assert and preserve their own separate culture and identity.
Anyone interested in Gypsies, death rituals, or the formation of culture will enjoy this fascinating and sensitive ethnography.
In Gypsy World, Patrick Williams argues that these customs are at the center of how Manuš see the world and their place in it. The Manuš inhabit a world created by the "Gadzos" (non-Gypsies), who frequently limit or even prohibit Manuš movements within it. To claim this world for themselves, the Manuš employ a principle of cosmological subtraction: just as the dead seem to be absent from Manuš society, argues Williams, so too do the Manuš absent themselves from Gadzo society—and in so doing they assert and preserve their own separate culture and identity.
Anyone interested in Gypsies, death rituals, or the formation of culture will enjoy this fascinating and sensitive ethnography.
Contents
List of Photographs
Translator's Acknowledgments
1 Pre-text
2 Mare Mule: The Dead among the Living
3 Civilizing the World
4 The Basket Makers Have Become Scrap-Iron Dealers
5 Commmentary
Notes
References
Index
Translator's Acknowledgments
1 Pre-text
2 Mare Mule: The Dead among the Living
3 Civilizing the World
4 The Basket Makers Have Become Scrap-Iron Dealers
5 Commmentary
Notes
References
Index
For more information, or to order this book, please visit http://www.press.uchicago.edu
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Anthropology: Cultural and Social Anthropology | General Anthropology
History: European History
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