The Gypsy Woman: Representations in Literature and Visual Culture

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Description

The exotic and dangerous stereotype of the Gypsy woman formed in nineteenth-century literature and visual culture remains alive today. These contemporary cliches about Gypsy culture - both negative and romanticised - have a long history. In The Gypsy Woman, Jodie Matthews analyses why the representation of female Gypsy figures in print, painting, television series such as Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and social media sites like Instagram matters so much. Some of these images have been so damaging that they require legal regulation, but Matthews claims that supposedly positive portrayals are just as detrimental by reiterating the same story about Gypsies that have been told since the nineteenth century. Her study makes this book a highly relevant resource for students, teachers and researchers working in literary, cultural, gender and Romani studies.

Reviews

A well-researched, scholarly and engaging book that brings critical sophistication and sensitivity to its readings of encounters with the Gypsy woman. -- Becky Munford, Reader, School of English, Communication and Philosophy, Cardiff University, UK
This is good; I wish Id written it. The author is careful to emphasise that she cant and doesnt speak for Gypsies or know whats best for them, and that is refreshing. -- Ian Hancock, Professor, Department of Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin, USA

Author Bio

Jodie Matthews is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Huddersfield, UK. Her research focuses on the ways in which groups who travelled around Britain were represented in the past, particularly the nineteenth century, and the ways in which these stereotypes and prejudice persist. She is also an editorial co-ordinator for Identity Papers: A Journal of British and Irish Studies.