New Soviet Gypsies: Nationality, performance, and selfhood in the early Soviet Union by Brigid O'Keeffe (review)

New Soviet Gypsies: Nationality, performance, and selfhood in the early Soviet Union. Brigid O'Keeffe. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 2013. isbn 978-1-4426-4650-6.328 pp.Reviewed by Yaron MatrasThe concept of a Romani nation still triggers controversy among scholars and policy-makers alike. Several decades before the emergence of the Romani political movement as we know it today, the idea of Romani nationhood was debated, perhaps for the very first time, in the early Soviet Union. In theory, the Soviet state allowed all non-Russians to practise their own nationhood. This included the promotion of their language, schools, theatres, and other institutions. But the Roma had been considered since imperial times to be exotic and backward, properties that were not the typical features that would define a national minority. The Roma therefore constituted an interesting test case for the policy - both in regard to what defines nationality' and in regard to the opportunities for advancement' that the Soviet state purported to offer to minority groups (p. 6). Brigid O'Keeffe tells the fascinating story of the makings of Romani nationhood in the early years of the Soviet empire. Her thesis is that Soviet nationalities policy offered Roma an opportunity to perform their belonging to the state by displaying particularity. Within the broader context of early Soviet nationalities policy, a display of selfhood was advantageous. The public discussion of minority nationhood gave Roma a chance to define both what is Roma and what is Soviet.The text is based on research of primary archive sources covering government documents, personal correspondence, newspapers and other published materials, which the author accessed at the Russian state archives in Krasnodar, Moscow, Smolensk and Volgograd, as well as in the archives of museums and other cultural institutions in St Petersburg and Moscow. The book is organised in thematic chapters. The first describes the emergence of the Romani lobbyist and activist scene, the second deals with the promotion of Romanilanguage literacy and education, the third and fourth chapters outline attempts to transform Roma into workers in industrial and agricultural collectives and to institutionalise their political as well as economic participation, while the fifth chapter deals with Romani artistic performances during the Soviet era. The Epilogue is devoted largely to the personal story of Soviet Romani activist and writer A.V. Germano, who in his essays tried to express the ambiguities of his identity as a Gypsy, a Russian, and a Soviet citizen. The book is not a conventional historiographical narrative in which events are rendered in chronological order. There are quite a few repetitions both within individual chapters as well as among them, and the story unfolds gradually. Yet it is a gripping account of the role of a small number of individuals in attempts to shape state policy and ideology toward the Roma. O'Keeffe offers insights into the internal discussions of the Romani leadership, the performance devices that they employed, collaboration with the authorities, the obstacles that they encountered within their own community and pressures from outside, as well as their enthusiasm for the momentum of change and their ideological vision. The book thus offers not only a description of events that affected Roma in a particular country during a particular period in time, but also an analysis of what was arguably the very first attempt at any Romani nationalist mobilisation, and so it is a must read for anyone with an interest in the theory and practice of Romani nationhood. The theoretical framework centres on the performative aspects of identity discourses, and here the author follows closely in the footsteps of Lemon's (2000) seminal work on Romani identity performance in Russia.The circle of Romani activists whose story is featured in the book includes 1.1. Rom-Lebedev, E. A. Poliakov, I. …

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