Politicizing Roman and the Folklorization of Ethnicity

Abstract

Two fundamental shifts in national policies post-2000 set into motion new forms of Roman expression: Turkey’s responses to European Union accession process; Urban Renewal Law 5366. The first promoted Roman as a model minority through the establishment of Roman cultural associations (dernek-s), thereby opening up political space for Roman ethnic identity. The second mobilized extensive expropriation of Roman neighborhoods under Law 5366. Using pedagogy-by-performance to “make oneself known” (tanıtma), dernek-s began forging an emergent Roman-as-folklore. I trace the uneven process of folkloric canon-formation through three performances: an international festival in Istanbul, in Keşan’s annual festival, and in response to the destruction of Istanbul’s entertainment district, Sulukule. The collision of dernek-inspired political action with land expropriation were encapsulated in discourses surrounding—and enabling—municipal destruction of Sulukule. The chapter reflects on the problem of heightened attention to Sulukule as a form of political iconicization that eclipsed suffering experienced in other sites.