Unity or Contiguity: Towards a New Theory of Romani Literature

Abstract

Romani literature has an important role in challenging the predominant negative views about Roma, but its influence is lessened by the minimization of Romani cultural expressions, literature being one of them. In this paper, after a theoretical positioning of Romani literature, I show how contemporary Romani literature could expand its position of influence through a re-evaluation of what constitutes the literary canon, and by the promotion, by scholars and specialists, of a “Romani literary complex.” As a case study, I discuss here two Francophone texts, by a Roma (Anina Ciuciu) and by a non-Roma (Valérie Rodrigue), positing that, although not “literary” in the traditional sense, both of them could be considered part of an emerging Romani literarycomplex that , in turn, might accelerate the institutionalization of this literature.