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Wearing Gypsy identity in a Gábor Gypsy community in Tîrgu Mureş

2009; Liverpool University Press; Volume: 19; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3828/rs.2009.1

1757-2274

Saba Tesfay,

Italian Fascism and Post-war Society

The article is based on research conducted in Tirgu Mures, Romania, among a Vlax Gypsy group, the Gabors. I was struck by the Gabors' characteristic dress codes and the significance they attach to them. As one elderly man emphasised: We haven't changed our dress, not at all [. .] for the Gabors, this is ancient and has existed since there are Gabors . This initial impression inspired me to write the present article, in which I begin with a brief outline of the method used, after which I move to the ideological framework around which my argument is built. Following this section, I describe the apparent facts, including Gabor Gypsy dress codes and public behaviour and then make an attempt to draw consequences as to the relationship between Gabor identity and ethnic dress, how Gabor self-consciousness and its variations of content and meaning are related to dress, what symbolic role clothing plays and what this medium communicates.