13. Playing for a public: French Manouche commemorations of Roma genocide
Lie, Siv B.
13. Playing for a public: French Manouche commemorations of Roma genocide - 2023.
93
Scholarship about French Manouches often emphasizes prohibitions on speaking about past traumas and the dead, but there are exceptions to this silence. This article explores instances in which Manouche musicians are publicly vocal about death and trauma in prior generations. Their outspokenness is particularly evident in recent public-facing musical works that commemorate the Nazi genocide of Roma people. The producers of these works self-consciously endeavor to make themselves legible within contemporary frameworks of Holocaust commemoration. These efforts should be taken as evidence of multiple and ambivalent attitudes toward death and trauma that exist among Manouche individuals and communities. In breaking the silence, the work of these artists signals generational shifts in attitudes about how to pay respect to the dead. Close attention to cultural productions such as music offers a nuanced understanding of Manouche memory practices and may thus contribute to struggles against a long legacy of anti-Roma racism in France.
13. Playing for a public: French Manouche commemorations of Roma genocide - 2023.
93
Scholarship about French Manouches often emphasizes prohibitions on speaking about past traumas and the dead, but there are exceptions to this silence. This article explores instances in which Manouche musicians are publicly vocal about death and trauma in prior generations. Their outspokenness is particularly evident in recent public-facing musical works that commemorate the Nazi genocide of Roma people. The producers of these works self-consciously endeavor to make themselves legible within contemporary frameworks of Holocaust commemoration. These efforts should be taken as evidence of multiple and ambivalent attitudes toward death and trauma that exist among Manouche individuals and communities. In breaking the silence, the work of these artists signals generational shifts in attitudes about how to pay respect to the dead. Close attention to cultural productions such as music offers a nuanced understanding of Manouche memory practices and may thus contribute to struggles against a long legacy of anti-Roma racism in France.
Réseaux sociaux