'True Speech': Song and the Moral Order of a Hungarian Vlach Gypsy Community

Abstract

This article looks into the Hungarian Gypsy (Rom) idea of truth in what they call 'true speech', that is song. In the act of singing, Rom men create an ideal communal world in contrast to their daily fractiousness. The context a'nd content of Rom collective singing, as well as the nature of song, mean that in the performance of song Rom men experience themselves becoming fully Rom. Because of this, what the songs say appears especially convincing. In song it appears possible to live as 'free', specific, individuals and at the same time submit to the rigorously levelling and homogenising norms of Rom society. In singing together Hungarian Rom create one of the conditions of their reproduction as a distinct community. The analysis contributes to discussions (after Bloch) on the relation between form and function of formalised speech, by focusing on the performance-context of song.