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Negotiating Roma Identity in Contemporary Urban Romania: an Ethnographic Study

Birzescu, Anca
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1383583352

Abstract Details

2013, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, Communication Studies.
This dissertation is a critical ethnography of the Roma ethnic minority in post-communist Romania within the socio-economic and political context of the country's post-accession to the European Union. The focus broadly is on the identity negotiation of the Roma minority in Romanian urban space. To this end, I explore Roma communicative practices in capital city of Bucharest. I examine the urban intercultural contact zones that represent Roma-non Roma relations and interactions. I draw on the productive "travelling" postcolonial theories and translate them into an examination of the Roma minority in Romanian physical space. My ethnography is informed by postcolonial theoretical frameworks that challenge the seemingly dichotomous colonizer/colonized relation. I look at discursive practices among Roma individuals suggesting alternative epistemes to allow for a nuanced understanding of the Roma-non Roma encounter. My methods include in-depth interviews, participant observation, and direct observation. The personal narratives of the 35 participants involved in this study emphasize a range of identity negotiation patterns. These reveal in turn complex, interrelated configurations of internalized oppression, passing, and hybridity that make possible both resistance and conformity to the dominant cultural production of the Gypsy Other. This research is an attempt to produce a constructive impact on policy and practice and therefore addresses the urgent need for critical, responsible inquiry that explores the diversity of Romani experience.
Radhika Gajjala, Dr. (Committee Chair)
Lara Martin Lengel, Dr. (Committee Member)
Lynda Dixon, Dr. (Committee Member)
Karen Kakas, Dr. (Other)
113 p.
Communication
Roma; Gypsy; Internalized Oppression; Hybridity; Postcolonial Theory; Ethnography

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Birzescu, A. (2013). Negotiating Roma Identity in Contemporary Urban Romania: an Ethnographic Study [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1383583352

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Birzescu, Anca. Negotiating Roma Identity in Contemporary Urban Romania: an Ethnographic Study . 2013. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1383583352.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Birzescu, Anca. "Negotiating Roma Identity in Contemporary Urban Romania: an Ethnographic Study ." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1383583352

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1383583352
525
© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.