Mixing and Unmixing Languages: Romani Multilingualism in Kosovo (Routledge Studies in Language and Identity)

__Mixing and Unmixing Languages__ uses the politics and practices of language to understand social hierarchies and social change in a post-conflict and post-socialist context. The book focuses on Roma in Prizren, Kosovo, where the author conducted long-term ethnographic fieldwork, using language learning as a central method. Shifts in language practices among this highly multilingual group have reflected the demise of Yugoslav socialism, the rise of ethno-nationalist politics and conflict, and the post-war reversal of power relations in Kosovo. Roma in Prizren nostalgically narrate a past of cosmopolitanism and employment in contrast to the present. Their position today is complex: while they stress their relative integration, this position is fragile in the face of nationalist politics and imported neoliberal economic policies. Within this context, Roma NGO workers have found an economic niche working on projects to protect multiculturalism and minorities, funded by international aid agencies, centred on Romani language. This book discusses the historical trajectory and current configurations of a Romani organisation in the town, the standardisation of Romani and the hierarchical organisation of linguistic forms and language learning, the self-representation of Roma and the ‘gypsy’ image through Romani-language drama, and attitudes to purism, mixing and cosmopolitanism. __Mixing and Unmixing Languages__ is suitable for academics and students in the areas of linguistic anthropology and linguistic ethnography, Romani studies, South-East European studies and sociolinguistics. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Note on orthographies Acknowledgements Introduction Preamble We speak four languages: malleable identities and porous borders Multiethnic Prizren Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians Mixture and purity in linguistics and anthropology Book layout Notes Part 1 Roma, Prizren and language Chapter 1 Terzimahalla, Durmish Aslano and me Introduction NGO Durmish Aslano Language learning as method Learning Romani Conclusion Notes Chapter 2 Durmish Aslano in Prizren: From partisan to NGO Introduction 1969: KAM Durmish Aslano From workers to nations: changing Yugoslavs Nations to nationalists Forgetting the war: Roma narratives Conclusion Notes Chapter 3 Intangible culture and tangible employment after socialism Introduction Intangible culture Rights as discourses Work, kin and community Unequal redistribution Conclusion Notes Part 2 Purity, mixture and representation Chapter 4 O Romano Teatro and gypsy theatricality Introduction Acting like ‘gypsies’ Roma in the Balkans Natural patriarchy Gypsy comedy, Romani tragedy Conclusion Notes Chapter 5 Standardisation: Learning linguistics in the bath Introduction Politics and letters Words and purism Intellectuals and barbarisms Ideology and diffusion Conclusion Notes Chapter 6 Before the war: A nostalgic speech genre Introduction Language boundaries and contentment Before the war: a nostalgic genre Sedentarist cosmopolitanism Purism and mixture Conclusion Notes Conclusion: Between two fires? Dissonance, diglossia, disorientation Introduction Between Prizren and the enclaves Variations on a theme: betweenness Mixture, hierarchy and change Notes Bibliography Index "Mixing and Unmixing Languages uses the politics and practices of language to understand social hierarchies and social change in a post-conflict and post-socialist context. The book focuses on Roma in Prizren, Kosovo, where the author conducted long-term ethnographic fieldwork, using language learning as a central method. Shifts in language practices among this highly multilingual group have reflected the demise of Yugoslav socialism, the rise of ethno-nationalist politics and conflict, and the post-war reversal of power relations in Kosovo. Roma in Prizren nostalgically narrate a past of cosmopolitanism and employment in contrast to the present. Their position today is complex: while they stress their relative integration, this position is fragile in the face of nationalist politics and imported neoliberal economic policies. Within this context, Roma NGO workers have found an economic niche working on projects to protect multiculturalism and minorities, funded by international aid agencies, centred on Romani language. This book discusses the historical trajectory and current configurations of a Romani organisation in the town, the standardisation of Romani and the hierarchical organisation of linguistic forms and language learning, the self-representation of Roma and the 'gypsy' image through Romani language drama, and attitudes to purism, mixing and cosmopolitanism. Mixing and Unmixing Languages is suitable for academics and students in the areas of linguistic anthropology and linguistic ethnography, Romani studies, South-East European studies and sociolinguistics"-- Provided by publisher