A critical view of contemporary romology: employing the evangelical sources
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irk-123456789-269202011-09-08T12:08:22Z A critical view of contemporary romology: employing the evangelical sources Slavkova, M. 2008 Article A critical view of contemporary romology: employing the evangelical sources / M. Slavkova // Науковi записки. Збiрник праць молодих вчених та аспiрантiв. — Т. 15. — К., 2008.— С. 385-393. — Бібліогр.: 8 назв. — англ. XXXX-0076 http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/26920 en Науковi записки. Збiрник праць молодих вчених та аспiрантiв Інститут української археографії та джерелознавства імені М.С. Грушевського НАН України |
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Slavkova, M. A critical view of contemporary romology: employing the evangelical sources Науковi записки. Збiрник праць молодих вчених та аспiрантiв |
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A critical view of contemporary romology: employing the evangelical sources |
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A critical view of contemporary romology: employing the evangelical sources |
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critical view of contemporary romology: employing the evangelical sources |
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Інститут української археографії та джерелознавства імені М.С. Грушевського НАН України |
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A critical view of contemporary romology: employing the evangelical sources / M. Slavkova // Науковi записки. Збiрник праць молодих вчених та аспiрантiв. — Т. 15. — К., 2008.— С. 385-393. — Бібліогр.: 8 назв. — англ. |
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Науковi записки. Збiрник праць молодих вчених та аспiрантiв |
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385
Magdalena Slavkova (Sofija, Bulgaria)
A CRITICAL VIEW OF CONTEMPORARY ROMOLOGY:
EMPLOYING THE EVANGELICAL SOURCES
Introduction
The issue of Evangelical conversion of Gypsy and ‘Gypsy-like’ communities
worldwide has attracted the attention of a large circle of scholars. Scholars of
certain methodological schools, such as ethnologists, anthropologists, ethnomusi-
cologists, sociologists, or linguists study the process of dissemination of the so-
called New Churches among Roma people and its impact on Roma culture and
way of life. Such an interdisciplinary approach embraces the achievements of a
set of academic disciplines and thus contributes for the development of con-
temporary Romology. The most important problem discussed in the literature is
related to the question whether conversion to Evangelism influences only
positively the cultural and social life of Roma people, supporting their successful
integration into society as consequence, or does Evangelism lead to a kind of
unification of the culture of different Roma groups in one common Evangelical
culture, which in turn results in the loss of part of the identity of the communities?
In this article I will propose a critical view on one source of significant
importance for the study of the process of Evangelical conversion, namely
religious music. The most important tendencies characterizing the Evangeli-
cal culture of Bulgarian Roma can be retraced by analyzing this source. Since
Bulgaria is part of the common wave for evangelizing the Roma in the name
of Jesus Christ, the conclusions could be valid for a wider geographical area
that goes beyond the boundaries of Bulgaria. Religious music is an instru-
ment by which the people’s hearts can be reached in the fastest possible way
and thus, besides a method of successful missionary work, it is an indicator
for important changes.
Classification and Typology of the Evangelical Sources
Various sources should be taken into account when studying the issue of
evangelization among Roma and the complete dimensions of the changes that
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have occurred within the communities. These sources are generally defined as
Protestant because of their origin. They are specific sources that include concrete
information about the problematic that we are interested in. An essential part of
the protestant sources are the ones published and disseminated in Romany lan-
guage (Romanes). The sources can be classified as following: literary, internet,
music sources and fieldwork data. The last ones are gained during fieldwork. In
accordance with the methods of the Bulgarian Ethnology, qualitative methods are
usually applied during fieldwork studies among the researched community. In
traditional Ethnography most often an encircling survey in a definite settlement
(or region) is done, so that the ethnographer could submerge entirely among the
studied community. The term of sojourn is not more than a month, as in a certain
period afterwards the fieldworker returns to the ‘field’ again in order to trace back
the possible changes in the group’s lifestyle. In this way the process of studying
might continue up to several years. At present, other methods are applied in the
field of Ethnography and some of them are also employed in Romology. These
are the methods of case study and, rather rarely, the method of reflective anthro-
pology. The fieldwork methods, on the other hand, include participant observa-
tion, free interviews (free conversions with informants guided by the investiga-
tor to the topics of interest for the research) and life-story interviews. Structured
interviews, brief linguistic questionnaires or sociological inquiries are rarely used.
From the technical methods, this of visual anthropology is used as well.
Evangelical sources can be classified in some other categories, depending
on their nature and function: religious periodic; translated literature; author lit-
erature, unpublished manuscripts of Roma pastors or other servants; internet
sources (protestant websites information or information gained by personal on-
line correspondence), and music sources.
Important in the process of studying the evangelization among Gypsies is
the collection of different religious periodicals, such as newspapers and journals,
which are official publications of the protestant congregations in Bulgaria and
abroad. Part of them are published also in Romanes for the needs of protestant
missionaries among Roma people. The first attempts at issuing newspapers for
the Gypsies dates back to the 1920s and the 1930s. For instance, the monthly
newspaper Svetilnik (Enlightener) was published in 1927 with special adden-
dum in Romanes – Romano alav (A Roma talk), another newspaper – News of
the Gypsy Evangelical Mission was first published in 1933.
An important source for such type of study is the religious literature trans-
lated into Romany. With the support of the Bible Societies in Great Britain, the
U.S. and other countries, the Bible and the New Testament are constantly being
translated into different dialects of Romanes. George Borrow was one of the first
who translated the Bible into the Gypsy language as a missionary of the Bible
Society in London (1836). It is also worth pointing out that Borrow published
several articles about the Gypsies on the Iberian Peninsula, which influenced the
development of research work dedicated to this ethnic community (1841; 1857).
Other popular versions are translations of the Bible and separate books of the
Holy Scripture in Kelderara dialect, made by the writer of Roma origin Mateo
Maximoff, with the contribution of the International Bible Society in London
and the Bible Societies of Sweden and France (1970; 1981-1984; 1990-1995
etc.). Also worth mentioning is the first translation of the Gospel of Luke in the
Erlii dialect made by Bernard Gilliat-Smith, used in Bulgaria for the needs of the
Bible Society in London (1912). One of the last translations of the New Testa-
ment made in Bulgaria is that of Mr. Sulyo Metkov, in the Erlii dialect.
In this context I should point out some basic monographic books of the
world known evangelical missionaries, in which they present their missionary
activities among Gypsies. Such is the book by Joe Ridholls, a Methodist minis-
ter – Travelling Home. God’s Work of Revival among Gypsy Folk (1986). In
India the monographic work of an apostolic missionary for Gypsy Pentecostalism,
pastor Clément Le Cossec, was released under the title My Adventures with the
Gypsies (1991). Many books about one of the most famous worldwide Roma
missionary, Gypsy Smith, were published and reprinted, describing his life and
activity as preacher. For instance, such is the book by David Lazell (1997) –
Gypsy from the Forest. A New Biography of the International Evangelist Gypsy
Smith (1860-1947).
During the years also a whole cycle of religious literature was pub-
lished in Romany: Duvare bijanipe (1933) [Double birth]; O Del vakjarda
(1933) [God said]; O drom uhtavdo (1938) [The way upwards]. Important
and very useful sources in this type of study are the archive histories of the
churches, written by the spiritual leaders as well as the M.A. theses, written
by Evangelical Roma, and successfully defended at different prestigious
Higher Protestant Institutes.
Particularly and significant source in this type of study of religious prob-
lems are the internet websites, where Protestant or Roma specific issues are pre-
sented. Here I should also include my personal data, obtained via internet and as
a result of on-line conversations with informants.
Music sources are among the most interesting and useful for the develop-
ment of this scholarly trend in Romology because they contain rich and diverse
information. We should take into account various songs with religious content
(Gospel songs) under the term music sources. Many of these songs are officially
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published in collections called songbook, being released as music products on
the market in cassette, CD, and DVD format or in mp3 format in internet as well.
Many collections of Gospel songs have been published by different Protestant
congregations during the years. Considerable parts of them were issued in
Romanes. For example, I can point out ones of the first books published with
translations of evangelistic hymns in Romanes – Romane svjato gili [Roma sa-
cred song] (1929); Romane somnal gilja [Roma sacred songs] (1936).
During fieldwork the ethnographer can often find local folklore Gospel songs
that do not have an official character. They are written down in notebooks or
diaries with Cyrillic alphabet no matter what is the language, Bulgarian, Turkish,
Romanian or Romany. The songs are kept in the local churches. These hymns
have contents similar to the texts of all other Gospel songs, but thanks to their
unofficial character, the typical linguistic peculiarities of various Roma dialects
are clearly distinguishable in them.
A brief presentation of Bulgarian Roma
The heterogeneous community of the Bulgarian Roma leads a diverse way
of life. Orthodox Gypsies are called traditionally Dasikane roma (Bulgarian
Gypsies, i.e. Christians). Orthodox by a tradition are also Rudari (the community
has two main subdivisions – Lingurari [spoon-makers], who are wood carvers,
and Ursari [bear-trainers]); Asparuhovi bâlgari (Asparukh Bulgarians, their name
is derived from the name of the old Bulgarian Khan Asparukh, whom they consider
to be their “king”); Burgudžii (gimletmakers); Kaldaraši/Kardaraši (their most
often self-appellation is Rrom Ciganjaka in sense of true Gypsies), Vlaxički tsigani
[called also as Rešetari, i.e. sieve makers], etc.; and Muslims – Millet (i.e. people),
Gypsies with a preferred Turkish identity, Xoraxane roma (Turkish Gypsies, i.e.
Muslims), Muzikanti (musicians), etc. The process of Evangelization is widespread
among almost all Roma groups in Bulgaria: among both Orthodox Gypsies and
Muslims, as among the various groups the extent of dissemination is different. In
most cases the same group could unite Orthodox Christians and Evangelists or
Muslims and Evangelists, which does not ruin their community way of life and
does not lead to conflicts between them on this basis. Some of the Gypsies speak
Romanes (Burgudžii, Kaldaraši, Muzikanti, Vlaxički tsigani etc.), while for others
the mother tongue is Romanian (Rudari), Turkish (Millet, Gypsies with a preferred
Turkish identity) or Bulgarian (Asparuhovi bâlgari).
The Evangelical Music
Nowadays the New Churches known in Bulgaria generally as Evangelical
(Protestant) have significant place and role for both the community life of Roma
and their inter-group social organization. The beginning of the 20th century was
characterized by successful Evangelical missions in the regions of Lom (North-
western Bulgaria) and the capital Sofia. The first successful mission of Protes-
tant missionaries among Gypsies was implemented in the village of Golintsi
(today’s neighbourhood ‘Mladenovo’ in the town of Lom), where a Baptist church
was established with the active support of Austrian missionaries.
Evangelists are a heterogeneous community. It comprises Methodists, Bap-
tists, Pentecostals, Adventists (Sabbatarians), Jehovah’s Witnesses etc., who be-
long to various congregations and attend religious services in separate churches.
Some of the new Christians have repented for many years, others for generations
before, while others are new adepts. The endonyms used by the new Christians
after baptism are different, but similar by sense, such as believers (or believers in
Jesus Christ), repentant, Christians (or new Christians), or the appellations de-
rived from the type of church they visit for services (Pentecostals etc.). The
Roma Church models in different ways the lifestyle of all the members through
religious rules and norms. The new ideology influences the most important cat-
egories of beliefs, perceptions of the world and mentality of Roma people. One
of the most significant changes in the way of life is the new attitude of the Chris-
tians toward the secular (‘worldly’) music. The churches, led by the pastors, are
trying to change the material and spiritual cultures of the converts, and to impose
the idea that the Evangelists must dedicate themselves in service of God. They
must mainly listen to (and also to like) religious Protestant music and should not
dance the ‘worldly’ dances. The refusal to listen to secular music and to dance
‘traditional’ dances (belly dances and traditional khoro [ring dance]) is a manner
to demonstrate belonging to the Church and ‘being true, good Gypsies’. How-
ever, it reveals the ambition to distinguish themselves from Non-Evangelists (no
matter Bulgarians or Gypsies).
The music culture is a way and strategy for cultural expression through
which the Roma/Gypsy identity of individuals or group belonging can be mani-
fested, and attention to them can be well directed. The archetype of the Gypsy
musician as entertainer of the majority is several hundred years old. Gypsy mu-
sic is the only element of Roma culture that was earlier accepted in a patronizing
way. The music is the cultural sphere, in which the Roma feel comfortable with-
out feeling a necessity to ‘hide’ their real ethnic origin, no matter how they are
perceived by the macro-society – as romantic heroes who need special attention
only because they are ‘Gypsies’ or as professionals who determine the tenden-
cies in contemporary music. On the contrary, the Gypsy/Roma origin is often
demonstrated in music because it is a way to gain social prestige that is hard to be
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reached in other spheres, as the society in which Roma live continues to be
stereotypically disposed. So the stigma of being considered Gypsies, but in the
negative sense, is removed. In return, their singing in Romany is now accepted,
ensuring a positive ethnic performance.
Protestant music is very different as a style due to the messages transmitted
in it and it should not to be comparable with the popular music in Bulgaria. Of
course, this music has its audience as well, but exclusively among converts.
Gospel hymns are known as songs for praise and worship because of their pur-
poses. Roma hymns are very popular in these groups and except as songs for a
mood, they have clear spiritual messages, which have to reach the Roma’s con-
sciousness. The Evangelical songs in Romanes are often called Devlikane gilja
(i.e. God’s songs). They belong to a specific genre, on which Evangelical hymns
are created or translated in Romany and in this way penetrate in their midst,
where they start to develop into new folklore forms.
Religious singers of Roma origin have a good reputation and enjoy great
prestige in their community that is comparable to the authority of the pastors.
Those among them who are more ambitious often have a successful career in
music, and expect that they are participants at the church chorus and do their
everyday activities. Most of them are natural talents, but there are also experi-
enced musicians who have changed their profession with the position of musi-
cians who after baptism play God’s songs only. In 2006, during my fieldwork in
Spain, I met a Gitano musician who was a peddler and at the same time played
the guitar during services in the local Evangelical church. He was a professional
musician of rumba prior to his conversion. Other examples of pastors who prac-
tice an extra job (i.e. ‘worldly’ job) as musicians might also be seen in the ‘field’.
The creation and performance of Gospel music, written to express either
personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, has a great significance
as a method of evangelization, apart from the publication and dissemination of
religious literature in a language accessible to the people. The missionary net-
work of Protestant congregations is organized quite efficiently, which in turn
contributes to the successful dissemination of religious music both among con-
verts and non-converts. The main aim of the Gospel hymns is to reach the people
in the fastest way possible, so they can discover the strength of God’s love.
Gospel music is composed and performed for purposes connected with present-
ing of the right way to behave and think after the individual’s ‘rebirth’ in the
name of Jesus Christ. However, a common theme of most of the Gospel music is
the expression of praise, worship or thanks to God.
Music is an integral part of the regular weekly services. Singing during the
services is accompanied either by specific dances (i.e. a kind of bounces, with
which the believers express both the joy of the Holy Spirit’s ‘presence’ and their
participation in the common gaiety) or mutual singing without stirring by all
who are present. The way of music performance depends on the church’s subdi-
vision (traditional or charismatic [neo-Protestant]). While dancing, the dancers
keep decency in any case. In a number of Protestant churches there is a chorus,
as the musicians sing the religious hymns during the services. These are the so-
called groups for praise and worship, which have different names, depending on
the church’s subdivision, for example – Team for praise Life in Glory, a Group
for praise to the Church of Love, Philadelphia etc.
In Roma churches evangelical hymns are sang in Romany, Bulgarian, Turk-
ish or Romanian. The songs are composed in pop style. In most houses of prayer
there are songbooks, called by the believers pesnarki. This style of singing of
God’s songs in Romanes is known among these communities as Roma khvalenie
[A Roma praise].
In small houses of prayer and in domestic religious groups there is no chorus,
but very often there is someone who ‘writes the songs’ or chooses the song
repertoire for the services. Believers do not use the phrase ‘writing the songs’,
because, according to them, this is blasphemy. They believe that the creation of
texts for the evangelical songs is not just writing, but that someone of the Christians
(no matter who) has received the text in the conversation with God or has dream
it. After that the text is written down in notebooks, kept in the church or in the
house of the ‘song’s author’. Roma churches possess different musical instruments;
most of them are modern and were not known in traditional Gypsy music –
tambourines, mandolins, drums, accordions, synthesizers, guitars, pianos. Some
of the churches have their own business of producing and releasing (in different
format) God’s hymns in Romanes, Bulgarian or Turkish on the marketplace. The
albums are composed by the groups of praise. Some of the churches in the capital
Sofia and part of the country’s houses of prayer are engaged with this business.
During the years some of the religious music groups, the members of which are
mainly Roma, have enjoyed great popularity - Eloi, Elinai, VIG Golgota, Probiv,
El Shadai etc. Some of the singers from the teams of praise became popular as
musicians and good missionaries – Metodi, Jašarka, Ali (Ilya Panov) etc. The
well known on the Balkans, Bulgarian pop-folk musician of Roma origin, Azis
(Vasil Boyanov) started his career as a singer of evangelical songs together with
his mother as members of Molitva group. Roma hymns by various evangelical music
groups are available on internet: http://www.bgbible.com/, www.hvalenie.com, etc.
During evangelizations among Roma people in Bulgaria or abroad an integral
part of these activities is the music performance, presented by the groups of
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392 393
praise and worship. Evangelical singers are often invited as guests at different
festivals of secular character, for example the celebration of International Roma
Day (8th April).
Remarks on some problematic issues
According to the opinion of some researchers, religious songs should be
considered as a new style in Roma music called Rom-pop. These hymns have
similar pop sound and texts. The texts are concerned with the questions about the
life and the cause of Jesus Christ, various biblical themes, the theme of sin and
sinfulness, and recommendations for the new Christians’ behavior, their every-
day and religious life – Baro si o Del [God is great], O Isus man obichil [Jesus
loves me], Sikav man, Devla [Teach me, my God], Te mangâla ko pocoi [If your
heart wants] etc. The hymns in Romany have a universal character (style and
language), as their main aim is to reach more people. On one hand, this explains
their large popularity, but on the other hand, a new phenomenon appears. So the
Gypsy language used at the church services is changed. A lot of Bulgarian words
enter the songs to indicate new concepts with religious character. Usually, words
to name the evangelical notions do not exist in Roma dialects. Words, from the
language of the country where the Gypsies live, are borrowed to indicate these
ideas. In our case the Bulgarian words name a key for the believers’ appellations
like – Bibliya (Bible), Sveti dukh (Holy Spirit), pastor, gryakh (sin), lyubov (love),
slavya (glorify), uteshavam (to console) etc. Part of the used words remains with
terminations in Romanes: slavin-av, te promenin-es, grehov-enge etc. In some
dialects there are words about the priest (for example rašai), but these words are
connected with the Orthodox religion and are not used to indicate the protestant
minister. The Evangelists have a similar way of expressing. They do not curse,
especially in public places. After the conversion Christians change their lan-
guage of expression, they do not use obscene words and often talk about God
and Jesus Christ. Even Roma communities with relatively preserved group’s
dialect also use Bulgarian words in the hymns to indicate the new evangelical
notions, but in their songs these words are rarely seen. In particular God’s songs
the character dialect peculiarities of the Roma group can be observed.
Conclusion
Under the influence of Evangelism and its wide dissemination among the
Roma, tendencies that signify formation of a new Roma community have ap-
peared. Consequently, under the influence of Evangelism we see the emergence
of a new Roma culture. Distancing themselves from traditional religion, repre-
sentatives of various Gypsy groups accept a different faith and a new way of life.
The community of the Gypsy Evangelists imagine itself as a ‘new’ community,
mainly due to the form of Protestantism adopted. As such, it is expressed in their
daily life and festivals. As a result of these processes some of the Roma gradu-
ally integrate into the Roma Evangelical community, while others stick to their
own distinctiveness. The question is whether the unification of the culture of the
Evangelists (particularly in regard to the style and language of God’s songs)
leads to important (and visible) changes in Romanes? Is the integration of the
Roma into the Protestant congregations accompanied by the opposite effect –
changes in their way of life and culture, and therefore, loss of part of the commu-
nities’ identity or their specifics? This is one of the issues discussed in contempo-
rary Romology.
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Славкова М. (Софія, Болгарія) Критичний погляд порівняльної
ромології: використання на євангелістських джерел
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