Attitudes towards the mother tongue among Roma in Poland

An assumption shared for years by Romani studies scholars is that the Roma language is seminal to the group’s identity. The text is an in-depth analysis of the beliefs of Roma in Poland regarding their mother tongue. The inspiration for this exploration stems from a theoretical model shedding light...

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Main Authors: EWA NOWICKA, MACIEJ WITKOWSKI
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Liverpool University Press 2023-12-01
Series:Romani Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/rost.2023.11
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author EWA NOWICKA
MACIEJ WITKOWSKI
author_facet EWA NOWICKA
MACIEJ WITKOWSKI
author_sort EWA NOWICKA
collection DOAJ
description An assumption shared for years by Romani studies scholars is that the Roma language is seminal to the group’s identity. The text is an in-depth analysis of the beliefs of Roma in Poland regarding their mother tongue. The inspiration for this exploration stems from a theoretical model shedding light on correlations between knowledge of the Romani language and the Roma ethnic identity, the model Marushiakova and Popov developed with reference to the situation of Roma in Central Eastern Europe. The paper focuses on the question: What meaning do Roma in Poland assign to knowledge of the Romani language in the construction of their own ethnic identity? The authors argue that irrespective of the fact that the mother tongue currently appears to be a key element of group identity, Romaniness contains the potential to reproduce itself even under circumstances of language abandonment and even among the most conservative Romani groups. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0.
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series Romani Studies
spelling doaj-art-9b71fdf1ca304326ae1fe7016c645fc62025-08-20T02:15:59ZengLiverpool University PressRomani Studies1757-22742023-12-0133223926410.3828/rost.2023.11Attitudes towards the mother tongue among Roma in PolandEWA NOWICKA0MACIEJ WITKOWSKI1Ewa Nowicka is a full professor at the Sociology Department, Collegium Civitas, plac Defilad 1, 00–901 Warsaw.Maciej Witkowski is an associate professor at the Educational Studies Department, WSB University, ul. Cieplaka 1c, 41–300 Dąbrowa Górnicza.An assumption shared for years by Romani studies scholars is that the Roma language is seminal to the group’s identity. The text is an in-depth analysis of the beliefs of Roma in Poland regarding their mother tongue. The inspiration for this exploration stems from a theoretical model shedding light on correlations between knowledge of the Romani language and the Roma ethnic identity, the model Marushiakova and Popov developed with reference to the situation of Roma in Central Eastern Europe. The paper focuses on the question: What meaning do Roma in Poland assign to knowledge of the Romani language in the construction of their own ethnic identity? The authors argue that irrespective of the fact that the mother tongue currently appears to be a key element of group identity, Romaniness contains the potential to reproduce itself even under circumstances of language abandonment and even among the most conservative Romani groups. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0.http://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/rost.2023.11Romani languageRoma ethnic identityRoma in PolandRomani language learningteaching ethnic languagemother tongue transmission
spellingShingle EWA NOWICKA
MACIEJ WITKOWSKI
Attitudes towards the mother tongue among Roma in Poland
Romani Studies
Romani language
Roma ethnic identity
Roma in Poland
Romani language learning
teaching ethnic language
mother tongue transmission
title Attitudes towards the mother tongue among Roma in Poland
title_full Attitudes towards the mother tongue among Roma in Poland
title_fullStr Attitudes towards the mother tongue among Roma in Poland
title_full_unstemmed Attitudes towards the mother tongue among Roma in Poland
title_short Attitudes towards the mother tongue among Roma in Poland
title_sort attitudes towards the mother tongue among roma in poland
topic Romani language
Roma ethnic identity
Roma in Poland
Romani language learning
teaching ethnic language
mother tongue transmission
url http://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/rost.2023.11
work_keys_str_mv AT ewanowicka attitudestowardsthemothertongueamongromainpoland
AT maciejwitkowski attitudestowardsthemothertongueamongromainpoland