The introduction to the special issue discusses epistemological and methodological questions with... more The introduction to the special issue discusses epistemological and methodological questions with regard to ethnographic approaches in archival research. Inspired by anthropological debate on the ethnographic approach to and with colonial archives, the authors tackle the question of Roma and Sinti’s presence in European archives. They display how a methodological and theoretical de-construction of the archive allows shedding light on marginalized and often silenced voices within Europe’s history. It is shown how the reduction of the history of the presence of the «Gypsies» in Europe to a succession of repressive acts and negative topos means, in fact, not taking into account the capacity for civilisation on the part of the Romanì people, their being part of contexts that are not only, and not always, marginal. It introduces into how the archival material that contains the category of «Gypsy» unfolds and develops when it is approached through an ethnographic lens. Opening up for the specific combination of European archival sources, and Romanì ethnographies with their inherently diverging understandings of time and history, the authors propose a twofold approach on how to engage with the archival sources: by ethnographically denaturalizing the archive and by basing its research on present ethnographic experiences with Romani people.
Th e archival documents I work with concern Sinti ("Gypsy") families belonging to the Austrian Em... more Th e archival documents I work with concern Sinti ("Gypsy") families belonging to the Austrian Empire, stopped by the Italian authorities between 1908 and 1912. By following Anna Laura Stoler's proposition, I read the police records through an ethnographic lens, connecting the anti-Gypsy policy of both states with the strategies adopted by the Sinti families to inhabit and/or cross borders. Th us, the border becomes the space where the sovereignty of the state came into play and where the categories of "citizen" and "foreigner" become explicit through the daily controls on those who attempt to cross. Intertwining research in the archives with anthropological literature and fieldwork, this article presents a historical ethnography of those Sinti families who experienced the borders as "Gypsies, " a category that calls for critical analysis because it goes beyond the foreigner/citizen dichotomy.
The present paper focuses on the relationship between Fascist Italy and those people we conventio... more The present paper focuses on the relationship between Fascist Italy and those people we conventionally call "Gypsies". The contradictory aspects of the Fascist anti-Gypsy policy have been analyzed from a wider historical and anthropological perspective on Rom and Sinti communities in Italy. Their persecution during the Fascist regime took different forms and enacted repressive-preventive measures meant for people who the regime considered "dangerous" to both public order and state security. While showing how Rom and Sinti suffered under these measures (such as expulsions "at own risk and peril", police confinement and internment in camps and special localities), the whole process of categorization of the "Gypsies" has been analyzed-from Unification to the end of WWII. In perfect continuity with the liberal regime, the anti-Gypsy policy of Fascism managed to define "the Gypsy" as an "undesirable foreigner": this sketched a category of individuals who the police could treat with the utmost discretionary power, without the least reference to the laws in force for foreigners. Even today Rom and Sinti continue to be considered a threat to "security and public order", possibly making the persecutions they suffered during the Fascist period a topic which is not of particular interest to historians. This is why the testimonies of the Rom and Sinti were hardly noticed by society or Italian academia, also if today there is sufficient documentary evidence.
The Sinti are an array of gypsies groups settled in Italy since centuries and nowadays living in ... more The Sinti are an array of gypsies groups settled in Italy since centuries and nowadays living in the northern regions of the country. The complex connections between self-narrative and gypsy identity and their relations to non-gypsy dominant society are inquired here, through an anthropological and textual approach. Furthermore, the uses of writing in sinti groups (who are only partially literate) with respect to the non-gypsy society is highlighted by the ways of « making » their autobiographical texts. Actually, given their incomplete knowledge about the publishing world and the writing, the publishing of Sintis' books (i.e. autobiographies) always engage and depend on non-gypsy (gadje) editors. Finally, the analysis of the role played by non-gypsy editors and the ethnographic approach permit to underline the peculiar modalities with which the gypsies authors communicate with both peers of their community and non-gypsies readers. « Nous avons dit que le texte postule la coopération du lecteur comme condition d'actualisation. Nous pouvons l'exprimer mieux en disant qu'un texte est un produit dont le sort interprétatif doit faire partie du mécanisme générateur : produire un texte signifie mettre en oeuvre une stratégie dans laquelle se retrouvent les prévisions des manoeuvres des autres-comme, d'autre part, n'importe quelle stratégie (Eco 1979: 54).»
The persecution and internment of Gypsies in Fascist Italy is still a topic that has not been add... more The persecution and internment of Gypsies in Fascist Italy is still a topic that has not been addressed either at a historical level or at a political one. During ethnographic research in an Italian Sinti community I collected the first testimonies on their internment , which took place between 1940 and 1943 in a village in the Apennines. To date, their testimonies have not been reported in any historical work, nor have they aroused any interest in cultural institutions responsible for safeguarding the memory of the crimes and persecutions during the fascist regime. In order to support the stories remembered by the Sinti, I used archival material connecting the historiography on civil internment during fascism with the gypsies' parallel internment. This interweav-ing of ethnographic and archival research has allowed me to shed light on the incon-gruities and the shortcomings in the documentation on the persecution of the Gypsies in Italy during fascist regime.
Le politiche ‹antizingari› del regime fascista nelle province del confine nord-orientale: analisi... more Le politiche ‹antizingari› del regime fascista nelle province del confine nord-orientale: analisi e prospettive di ricerca (Paola Trevisan)
The introduction to the special issue discusses epistemological and methodological questions with... more The introduction to the special issue discusses epistemological and methodological questions with regard to ethnographic approaches in archival research. Inspired by anthropological debate on the ethnographic approach to and with colonial archives, the authors tackle the question of Roma and Sinti’s presence in European archives. They display how a methodological and theoretical de-construction of the archive allows shedding light on marginalized and often silenced voices within Europe’s history. It is shown how the reduction of the history of the presence of the «Gypsies» in Europe to a succession of repressive acts and negative topos means, in fact, not taking into account the capacity for civilisation on the part of the Romanì people, their being part of contexts that are not only, and not always, marginal. It introduces into how the archival material that contains the category of «Gypsy» unfolds and develops when it is approached through an ethnographic lens. Opening up for the specific combination of European archival sources, and Romanì ethnographies with their inherently diverging understandings of time and history, the authors propose a twofold approach on how to engage with the archival sources: by ethnographically denaturalizing the archive and by basing its research on present ethnographic experiences with Romani people.
Th e archival documents I work with concern Sinti ("Gypsy") families belonging to the Austrian Em... more Th e archival documents I work with concern Sinti ("Gypsy") families belonging to the Austrian Empire, stopped by the Italian authorities between 1908 and 1912. By following Anna Laura Stoler's proposition, I read the police records through an ethnographic lens, connecting the anti-Gypsy policy of both states with the strategies adopted by the Sinti families to inhabit and/or cross borders. Th us, the border becomes the space where the sovereignty of the state came into play and where the categories of "citizen" and "foreigner" become explicit through the daily controls on those who attempt to cross. Intertwining research in the archives with anthropological literature and fieldwork, this article presents a historical ethnography of those Sinti families who experienced the borders as "Gypsies, " a category that calls for critical analysis because it goes beyond the foreigner/citizen dichotomy.
The present paper focuses on the relationship between Fascist Italy and those people we conventio... more The present paper focuses on the relationship between Fascist Italy and those people we conventionally call "Gypsies". The contradictory aspects of the Fascist anti-Gypsy policy have been analyzed from a wider historical and anthropological perspective on Rom and Sinti communities in Italy. Their persecution during the Fascist regime took different forms and enacted repressive-preventive measures meant for people who the regime considered "dangerous" to both public order and state security. While showing how Rom and Sinti suffered under these measures (such as expulsions "at own risk and peril", police confinement and internment in camps and special localities), the whole process of categorization of the "Gypsies" has been analyzed-from Unification to the end of WWII. In perfect continuity with the liberal regime, the anti-Gypsy policy of Fascism managed to define "the Gypsy" as an "undesirable foreigner": this sketched a category of individuals who the police could treat with the utmost discretionary power, without the least reference to the laws in force for foreigners. Even today Rom and Sinti continue to be considered a threat to "security and public order", possibly making the persecutions they suffered during the Fascist period a topic which is not of particular interest to historians. This is why the testimonies of the Rom and Sinti were hardly noticed by society or Italian academia, also if today there is sufficient documentary evidence.
The Sinti are an array of gypsies groups settled in Italy since centuries and nowadays living in ... more The Sinti are an array of gypsies groups settled in Italy since centuries and nowadays living in the northern regions of the country. The complex connections between self-narrative and gypsy identity and their relations to non-gypsy dominant society are inquired here, through an anthropological and textual approach. Furthermore, the uses of writing in sinti groups (who are only partially literate) with respect to the non-gypsy society is highlighted by the ways of « making » their autobiographical texts. Actually, given their incomplete knowledge about the publishing world and the writing, the publishing of Sintis' books (i.e. autobiographies) always engage and depend on non-gypsy (gadje) editors. Finally, the analysis of the role played by non-gypsy editors and the ethnographic approach permit to underline the peculiar modalities with which the gypsies authors communicate with both peers of their community and non-gypsies readers. « Nous avons dit que le texte postule la coopération du lecteur comme condition d'actualisation. Nous pouvons l'exprimer mieux en disant qu'un texte est un produit dont le sort interprétatif doit faire partie du mécanisme générateur : produire un texte signifie mettre en oeuvre une stratégie dans laquelle se retrouvent les prévisions des manoeuvres des autres-comme, d'autre part, n'importe quelle stratégie (Eco 1979: 54).»
The persecution and internment of Gypsies in Fascist Italy is still a topic that has not been add... more The persecution and internment of Gypsies in Fascist Italy is still a topic that has not been addressed either at a historical level or at a political one. During ethnographic research in an Italian Sinti community I collected the first testimonies on their internment , which took place between 1940 and 1943 in a village in the Apennines. To date, their testimonies have not been reported in any historical work, nor have they aroused any interest in cultural institutions responsible for safeguarding the memory of the crimes and persecutions during the fascist regime. In order to support the stories remembered by the Sinti, I used archival material connecting the historiography on civil internment during fascism with the gypsies' parallel internment. This interweav-ing of ethnographic and archival research has allowed me to shed light on the incon-gruities and the shortcomings in the documentation on the persecution of the Gypsies in Italy during fascist regime.
Le politiche ‹antizingari› del regime fascista nelle province del confine nord-orientale: analisi... more Le politiche ‹antizingari› del regime fascista nelle province del confine nord-orientale: analisi e prospettive di ricerca (Paola Trevisan)
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Papers by Paola Trevisan
ethnographic approaches in archival research. Inspired by anthropological debate on the ethnographic approach
to and with colonial archives, the authors tackle the question of Roma and Sinti’s presence in European
archives. They display how a methodological and theoretical de-construction of the archive allows shedding
light on marginalized and often silenced voices within Europe’s history. It is shown how the reduction
of the history of the presence of the «Gypsies» in Europe to a succession of repressive acts and negative topos
means, in fact, not taking into account the capacity for civilisation on the part of the Romanì people, their
being part of contexts that are not only, and not always, marginal. It introduces into how the archival material
that contains the category of «Gypsy» unfolds and develops when it is approached through an ethnographic
lens. Opening up for the specific combination of European archival sources, and Romanì ethnographies
with their inherently diverging understandings of time and history, the authors propose a twofold approach
on how to engage with the archival sources: by ethnographically denaturalizing the archive and by basing its
research on present ethnographic experiences with Romani people.
ethnographic approaches in archival research. Inspired by anthropological debate on the ethnographic approach
to and with colonial archives, the authors tackle the question of Roma and Sinti’s presence in European
archives. They display how a methodological and theoretical de-construction of the archive allows shedding
light on marginalized and often silenced voices within Europe’s history. It is shown how the reduction
of the history of the presence of the «Gypsies» in Europe to a succession of repressive acts and negative topos
means, in fact, not taking into account the capacity for civilisation on the part of the Romanì people, their
being part of contexts that are not only, and not always, marginal. It introduces into how the archival material
that contains the category of «Gypsy» unfolds and develops when it is approached through an ethnographic
lens. Opening up for the specific combination of European archival sources, and Romanì ethnographies
with their inherently diverging understandings of time and history, the authors propose a twofold approach
on how to engage with the archival sources: by ethnographically denaturalizing the archive and by basing its
research on present ethnographic experiences with Romani people.