As Roma language fades from day-to-day use, traditional songs keep the language alive
Dance club for Roma kids, Museum of Roma Culture, Brno. Photo by Alice Tejkalova.
Prague 2007: Common Ground
To understand Roma culture in the Czech Republic today, it is crucial to describe how rich and different the culture of Roma was before, and what may have been lost forever. However, there are many aspects of traditional Roma culture that still exist today, and new forms seem to keep appearing.
Poets, painters, sculptors and writers pursue their art today in the Roma culture, as in any other ethnic group. However, as Roma have resettled to urban areas, modern houses and blocks of flats, most of their traditional material culture has died. The life of the Roma in the past created the life in which they adapted to in that environment. Today, because of migration and being forced into cities, the Roma have taken on a different lifestyle and culture.
A typical Roma craftsman is nearly impossible to find in the Czech Republic any more. Blacksmiths no longer exist. Men working with wood to make household utensils have burnt out with the modern day. Making clay bricks has been forgotten; there is no need to manufacture them because traditional houses are not being built any more. Food is now bought directly from the supermarket and cooked on an electric or gas stove. But music, language and family have survived the years of technology and assimilation with little change.
Many factors have pushed the Roma culture to adapt and reconfigure itself to the majority society. It is not only having to adapt to a completely new living situation and environment; Roma have also found themselves in a new society whose language is dissimilar from their own in the original homelands of Slovakia. This is a big problem for the older generation, as well as the younger generation--the children. Parents are teaching their children a grammatically wrong version of the Czech language intertwined with Roma words and thus, children are struggling to follow the normal curriculum. It is a sign of the strong role of Roma language in Roma families.
Roma language, Roma music and strong relations within family are the most typical manifestations of traditional Roma culture. “I cannot speak Roma and I feel ashamed when I have to speak with Roma musicians from all over Europe in English," said Martina Horváthová, the coordinator of the Khamoro Festival. "It is a really deep feeling of disgrace and I am working hard on learning the Roma language. I feel that it is my own language.”
Depending on parents' attachment to Roma traditions and Roma community, a younger Roma may speak the traditional language fluently or be forget it completely. "A Roma NGO estimates 10 to 15 percent of Roma living in the Czech Republic do not speak their own language at all," said Zdeněk Horváth, director of Athinganoi.
“It is just a logical trend that Roma culture is changing and being influenced by culture of the majority population,” Horváth said. “I cannot say that it is bad or good, it is just a logical process.”
Milan Senki, a Roma musician, believes traditional Roma culture lies within the walls of the Museum of Roma Culture in Brno, a city southeast of Prague. The museum is the only one in Europe devoted entirely to Roma culture. It is just a small sign that people living in big cities are pushed more to adapt to the majority society. Senki adds, “Music is inside of us. You do not have to teach Roma people that their parents and grandparents were musicians.”
Most Roma music groups still sing in the Roma language, a sign of the Roma trying to keep traditional culture alive. Through music, traditions are surviving and lyrics are strengthening Roma identity. The use of traditional Roma instruments is also a sign of a continuing tradition. The instruments are commonly used with a different significance than in the past, but Roma musicians are embracing their roots and continuing to live with the traditional family values of an older Roma family.
Other typical values of the Roma people are their approaches to how they live. “The philosophy of our nation is to enjoy ourselves one moment and in the next cry and be sad and then again celebrate,” Horvath said. “This temperament is inside of us, and is best visible in dance and music.” Roots of this philosophy can be found in the past when poor days were alternating with rich days and those feelings stood out in the music. This philosophy shows how colorful and lively a Roma concert can be at one moment and how lonely and sad the melodies and lyrics can be in the next.
Roma music is an integrated piece of Roma self-identity. Even if significant parts of Roma traditional culture have been changed, Roma music plays an important role in sustaining Roma values and world views.
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