“Gypsy Music” and Deejays: Orientalism, Balkanism, and Romani Musicians

An article by Ioana Szeman published in TDR: The Drama Review, Fall 2009, Vol. 53, No. 3 (T203), Pages 98-116

Ioana Szeman is a Senior Lecturer in Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies at Roehampton University, London. She is currently completing a book project based on fieldwork carried out over a 10-year period called Stages of Erasure: Performing Romani Culture and Gypsiness in and out of Post-Communist Romania.


In the current wave of successful “Gypsy music” in the West, Romani bands Taraf de Haïdouks and Fanfare Ciocărlia present themselves as “authentic” Gypsy musicians. In Germany, Shantel's latest album proclaims a Gypsy theme, but without Romani musicians. With or without Romanis, “Gypsy” means “exotic” in these musical exports.

Source: MIT Press Journals