Kultura tradycyjna wobec wyzwań nowoczesności. Mobilizacja etniczna w oczach wykształconych liderek romskich

Abstract

The article concerns the change of the Gypsy culture under the influence of the integrational processes with the Polish society. The changes occuring in the Gypsy community are sometimes contradictory to the tradion, which is being reproduced within the family. The local leaders working for the benefit of the Gypsy community within more and more numerous societies and organisations, as well as the growing elite of this group, are trying to adjust their community to the changing reality in the least interfering manner. I present the basie categories of the Gypsy culture which are integral elements of this society's life. I mean romanipen, which is the fundamental principle of organazing the Gypsies daily social life. It also includes magaripen, which is a profanation resulting from disobeyig the group taboo. Additionally I describe the special role of the Gypsy family in conveying the group values only by the word of mouth, which makes the Gypsy language significant in defining the indentity of the individual. I also present such aspects of the Gypsies' life, which, in my belief, have undergone a crucial change due to the contact with the dominant culture. The object of my interest was the mutual relation between the new chalenges the Gypsy society is going to encounter and traditional group culture.