Danger! educated gypsy: selected essays

"The young Roma generation has more access to his publications than my generation had And they are still so much inspired by them and by the basis they give for rethinking the place of Roma in the modern world.

Professor Ian F Hancock, Gypsy, scholar, linguist, activist (although not necessarily in that order), has spent a good deal of his life kicking against the received opinions and dearth of opportunities that have long oppressed the Romani community.

His impact upon Romani Studies has been truly remarkable, both in terms of his contributions to linguistics and Gypsy historiography and in his re-assessment of Romani identity within the Western cultural fabric No less influential has been his personal development as a scholar and activist for his own community.

Professor Hancock was the first Gypsy to attain a PhD in the UK His book The Pariah Syndrome was the first to document the enslavement of Roma in Europe and came as a revelation to those who were accustomed to think of slavery as an institution restricted to Europe's colonies His seminal work, We Are The Romani Peo/j/e (Hertfordshire, 2002), has become an established resource for teachers who wish to present the Romani self-statement to their students Author of over three hundred research publications, esteemed teacher to generations of students, and tireless spokesman for the Romani peoples of the world, Ian Hancock has achieved much fame and even a little notoriety in his eventful life.

This timely collection of Ian Hancock's selected writings is an attempt to present this dangerously educated and educating man through the medium of his work Within its covers you will find some personal stories ond much persuasive scholarship, heartfelt criticisms and sincere advice A compendium of his views on Romani history, culture, language and politics, no one will agree with everything he has to say, but that has never been his expectation The paint is that his voice and others from the Roman! community are now finally beginning to be heard --Book Jacket.

Introduction to Section One: Chapter One: Djabravoki -- Chapter Two: Family tales -- Chapter Three: Talking back -- Introduction to Section Two: History and culture -- Chapter Four: The Hungarian student Vlyi Istvn and the Indian connection of Romani -- Chapter Five: On Romani origins and identity -- Chapter Six: Gypsies, gade, languages and labels -- Chapter Seven: Romani religion -- Introduction to Section Three: Language standardisation and education -- Chapter Eight: The standardisation of the Romani language: an overview and some recommendations -- Chapter Nine: The schooling of Romani Americans: an overview -- Introduction to Section Four: Image -- Chapter Ten: Duty and beauty, possession and truth: the claim of lexical impoverishment as control -- Chapter Eleven: George Borrow's Romani -- Chapter Twelve: The concocters: creating fake Romani culture -- Chapter Thirteen: Gypsy Mafia, Romani saints: the racial profiling of Romani Americans -- Chapter Fourteen: The 'gypsy' stereo.