The Traveller Gypsies Book Review English Language Essay

Judith Oakley is a social anthropologist who has spent a lot of her life researching into many aspects of native life forms; one of the most popular pieces of work was her work conducted around Traveller-Gypsies. Oakley wrote her book ‘Gypsy-Travellers’ and published it in 1983; it represents the everyday life of Gypsy-Travellers and their struggle under the domination of a bigger society. The study conducted by Oakley occurred in the 1960s around England and understandings of Gypsy-Travellers throughout history have provided us with the ideology that they have always been vagrant people travelling freely. However, in this book, Oakley noted how Gypsy-Travellers living in Britain in the 1960s had to deal with numerous laws imposed by governments that would restrict their mobility and vanquish them from their true identity. Oakley is in constant teaching mode, and is always on the lookout for something new to write about the Gypsy-Travellers, something that was unknown to the public.

One problem that has always affected the studies of Gypsies would be the definition of what a gypsy actually is; while some believe it to be thought of in terms of “purity of blood”, others would regard it as social population, rather than an ethnic marvel, which should be such dealt with using social manners. One definition of a Gypsy would be ‘One inclined to a nomadic, unconventional way of life.’ (TheFreeDictionary, 2012). These people are the Gypsies that Okely’s book refers to, and her outlook in regards to their identity underlies much of her approach to the subject; it is a common theme throughout the book, and one is left realising, that the author never presents a clear definition of what a Gypsy actually is, how the meaning of the word has changed over time, with new laws and regulations being put in place and holding these people back, and how they are seen in today’s society. While this seems to be the main weakness of the text, Oakley does include how Gypsies live and shows how Gorgios are perceived and acted upon and against, including how Gypsies compare themselves to Gorgios within the community.

Oakley’s text starts by her introducing herself and what she was doing at the time she wrote the book, using things she learned from other people; for example, she found that to some people pierced ears were the only way to get to heaven, which was further believed to improve vision for Traveller-Gypsies, as she found out when questioning some of the people she lived with. Oakley uses numerous lists to show which people helped her make her book happen; thanking many people on the way, listing who gave her advice, who proof-read the book and who composed the final drafts to send off for publishing. She thanks the newspapers for allowing her to use their content as a regard to keep anonymity between those she was living with. Finally, she thanks the Traveller-Gypsies she was living with for being her guides and providing her with friendship and laughter. This all adds up to show how much she appreciates the work of other people when trying to get her own work together; it shows she has faith in the team of people she worked with and how she would trust them to help make her work successful.

The table of contents seems to show the author as writing the book chronologically; from writing about what was historically believed, to self-ascribing themselves to be a Traveller-Gypsy. It finalises by listing how Gypsies travel, in what and with whom; before writing about relationships and defining the role of the traveller women. Additionally, it lists terms Oakley used, which she came across when in the company of the traveller-gypsies, at the end of the book for readers’ ease of understanding their language. In personal opinion, chronologically ordering the table of contents seems to be a practical form of organisation as it shows how things have progressed throughout time, including any historical changes through research and the development of greater understandings. Furthermore, it allows for the reader to have a greater impression of how the people in the text live, what their means of transport is and how it has changed, and why these people live in the way that they do (be it economic reasons or political).

Oakley’s study is divided into twelve chapters and a conclusion, which appears to be written in a well-structured way. The first chapter addresses the history of Gypsy studies and invites popular misconceptions to be looked upon in a formal manner; this continues to be looked into in chapter two. Chapter three shows an insight into how Oakley planned to conduct her research and includes material that was proven to be valuable at the time of her study. Next, chapter four narrates the place of the British Gypsy within the economic system and includes non-Gypsy alliances with work contracts. Identity issues are further raised in chapter five, where self-ascription is discussed in detail. Chapter six entails dealings with maintenance of the boundaries between Gypsy and non-Gypsy, or Gorgio; this same chapter also deals with the concept of things considered as ritually impure, which would usually be associated with Gorgios and their way of life – further looked upon in chapter eleven. Chapter seven offers realistic pictures of the attitudes presented to Gypsies, including their way of life and means of livelihood, from Gorgios; further, it shows the ways Gorgios deal with providing the populations’ accommodation. Chapter eight shows Oakley dealing with both the reality and myth of Gypsies as ‘Traveller’ kind, and points out from the start that “Gypsies do not travel about aimlessly, as either the romantics or the anti-Gypsy suggest” (p. 125). Chapters nine and ten show how marriage, kinship, husband-wife relationships and children are dealt with, including how a marriage is chosen and why. The eleventh chapter had explored the role of women in a British Romany society and includes a detailed discussion of the differences between Gypsy and Gorgio women, including stereotypes. The final chapter, chapter twelve, deals with death, superstition and religion; however, these are not discussed in great depth – further analysis of these would have allowed the reader a greater understanding when looking into how these things affect a Gypsies lifestyle.

In her concluding remarks, Oakley notes how she can not necessarily conclude her chapter as she did not initially make a hypothesis. She relates to how gypsies are seen as trouble as they are kinds who refuse to settle and work for a living, unlike those who are already inhabited in an area do; they refuse to become proletarianised within the community. It also states how although they travel, Traveller-Gypsies do give a community something they could not otherwise get without their aid, whether that is positive for the community or negative. Further, she states how differentiating between gypsy and Gorgio is not always easy, but the gypsy culture has not always been accepted, as it may be led to be believed. The study was also a way to measure how gypsies deal with the way society treats them by ‘shunning’ them; it records the responses and retaliations of Traveller-Gypsies. A lot of gypsies would refuse Gorgio access to their lives, yet it is needed in order for them to gain a good name and understanding of what they do; without this they would be continually forced out of societies and would never have the possibility of being accepted into particular societies. The concluding remarks in this book encloses a statement which seems to be of importance; “Outsiders have projected onto Gypsies their own repressed fantasies and longings for disorder . . . this study has confronted such fantasies” (1983, p.232).

From what has been read in her book, Oakley uses herself as the narrator of the text, she writes about what she found as and when it happened; using any information she received and where it originated from. Additionally, the text written in the book has historical facts about the Traveller-Gypsies and how they have come to be the people they are; yet Oakley not only includes personal opinions on the matters, but personal experiences she has lived through whilst living within the Gypsy community. This gives the reader an understanding of what was happening at the time of the study as they are able to empathise, not only with Oakley, but with the Traveller-Gypsies as they dealt with any struggles they faced. Oakley uses present tense within her writing with phrases such as ‘it is presumed’ (p. 52) rather than the past tense ‘it was’; this gives the reader to believe the books authenticity as it allows for both periods of time and shows comparisons between the two. In regards to the writing style, it would most likely be suited for collegial or university students, or in particular those more advanced in this field of study, as the writing seems formal yet it contains academic information that may prove a challenge to those looking onto the subject from a less-educated point of view. For example, the way parts of the text have been written; in some parts, Oakley has referred to previous studies, a lot of them her own work, which may be identified as confusing for a student at any lower level of education, as they may be unable to understand parts of the text through the amount of referencing that is place.

The author has a distinctive personal style, it is formal, yet informal; Oakley uses evidence in her statements then puts up an opinionated argument against what she says, which additionally helps the reader understand what is being said. With her interpreting the gypsy lifestyle, Oakley tends to use their ‘jargon’ in her work, for example, using ‘Gorgios’ to show a non-gypsy person in the gypsy life, of which are defined and listed in the back of the book. Any accounts that are included in the book are based on personal visits to the community, therefore there may be misinterpretations within what has been said as a communication breakdown may have occurred; further, Oakley may be using bias information when trying to put a point across as there were no other researchers to object to her motives. This doesn’t help with the fact that she may not be putting up a believable argument, which seems to be one of the main criticisms against this text with their only being Oakley to refer to. However, with this being said, her text does include references to previous works from both herself and other former anthropologists in which she has used to back up some of her sources.

Her studied natives were collectively anonymous in her work; however, she does use some forms of individuality. She uses ‘one person’ rather than names as the people wishes to remain anonymous, which she accepted; phrases of which the people would want to be called are used, i.e. ‘one traveller said’, rather than ‘a person told me’. It does come across as the travellers she was living with have their own voice in the ethnography; she introduces them before using their quotes, giving the reader a sense of character; however, found in the notes are individual names of the Travellers she lives with and what ‘wise words; they gave her to help her live within the community once she was accepted. This gives a greater sense of character for the individuals as although they were not specifically named in the text, they did have an involvement at the end of the book.

Overall Oakley had provided a positive piece of text, with the main criticism being that her argument was not necessarily defined; her own personal meaning of what a Traveller-Gypsy was had never been noted thus it was unable to be validated in todays’ society as definitions have further changed since her period of study. Suitably, this text is informative and gives vital information upon how Traveller-Gypsies used to live previous to any laws and regulations stopping them performing certain tasks within a community.

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