Scholarly record

ROMA IDENTITY SPECIFICITIES IN THE LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN SLOVAKIA

B. Hlebova

Abstract

Paper roots in the literary-historical research on the Romany literature for children and youth in Slovakia, which documents its footing in the Slovak literature for children and youth. Simultaneously, it points out quantitative increase and generic variety of the Romany literature (folder books, collections of poems and songs, collections of Romany folklore, Romany folk-tales anthologies, collections of modern Romany folk-tales, short stories, novels, romans, non-fiction literature genres, text-books, and spelling-books), while the dominant literary genre is Romany folk-tale, which in its poetry keeps the archetype of the Romany identity until today. With the generalised view on the occurrence of specific characteristics of Romany identity in the Romany literature genres the paper offers interesting picture of generally valid identity of Roma people rendered in the authentically portrayed fates of Romany literary protagonists in their characteristics, images from lives, interpersonal relations, and spiritual world. Renewal and preservation of Roma identity in the literature for children and youth is considered as manifestation of self-identification and emancipation efforts of Roma people, which can contribute to understanding, acceptation, and tolerance of the otherness of Romany ethnic group members in Slovakia.

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