Between Two Fires: Gypsy Performance and Romani Memory from Pushkin to Post-Socialism

Since Tsarist times, Roma in Russia (known to others as Gypsies) have been portrayed as rebels, isolated from society and excluded from mainstream history. In Soviet times, Russians harboured two opposing views of Roma, exalting Romani theatre and song but believing Gypsies in the street to be liars and thieves. This work examines how Roma themselves have negotiated such dualities, in both everyday interactions and in stage performances. Alaina Lemon’s ethnographic study is based on fieldwork in Russia during the 1990s, focusing on Moscow Romani Theatre actors as well as Romani traders and metalworkers. Drawing from interviews, observation, archival work, literature and media, Lemon analyzes the role of performance and theatricality in Romani social life and memory. Racial and social prejudice against Gypsies runs so deep in part because of the very ways their stage performances have been culturally formed and positioned, allowing Gypsies to be typecast as natural performers. In addition to her focus on Romani performance and memory, Lemon discusses racial categories, gender, class and the economic changes in post-Soviet Russia.