“Parasitic Gypsies” versus Self-helping Gypsy Musicians: Historical Facts and Moving Beyond Stereotypes

Abstract

In the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and during the Horthy era in the 1930s, the “wandering Gypsies” and later the inhabitants of Gypsy settlements were often labelled “parasites” by the journalists, officials, and the gendarmes. For decades, Gypsy musicians were treated differently, enjoying a certain privileged role in relation to the rest of the Gypsy community. However, by the 1930s, Gypsy musicians too often found themselves categorized as “parasitic Gypsies.” In other words, being a Gypsy musician and having a profession was not in itself a guarantee of social esteem, despite self-help associations being set up and pension, funeral, sickness, and emergency benefits being planned; these factors and much more have been highlighted by the Roma Interbellum international research. The present article focuses on the activities of the aforementioned organizations and examines their limited impact on the improvement of the social status of Romani musicians in Hungary.