Sociohistorical configurations of "the gypsy" in the West

Abstract

From this writing I want to deconstruct the clichés, common places that are mobilized by the existing imaginary collective in relation to the gypsy minority, retrace the path, to find the origin of what today appears to us as absolute truth, prejudices based on those who base our perception and value judgments on people. Let's start with the name “Gypsies”. It is a colonial category, which became a derogatory or pejorative category, some researchers say that it derives from the word "Egyptians", because the first Roma who entered Europe said they came from Minor Egypt, a region that is usually located in present-day Turkey ( Istanbul, once Constantinople) or even in the Peloponnese area, Greece. Nowadays it is not usually used, except in Spain, where the Calé are called and sometimes call themselves this way. Some people argue that, to use the word as an ethnonym, but without the derogatory tinge, it must be done with the capital "G". There is no consensus in this regard, but we could say that in general terms, in the case of the Gypsies, the use of the term “Romani” is chosen as politically correct, a designative word of this people expressed in their own language, Romano. It should be noted that the word "Romany" has nothing to do with "Romanian" (referring to the country of Romania), nor with "Roman" (referring to Rome, Italy), it is a very common mistake to confuse these terms, so in Sometimes it is chosen to add an “r” to Roma, so that in many writings it appears as “Pueblo Rromaní” or “Pueblo Rromá”. In this writing I choose to use the name "Gypsy" with the first letter capitalized.