Between Two Fires – Gypsy Performance and Romani Memory from Pushkin to Post–Socialism

"This is an extraordinarily insightful account of the performance of being 'Gypsy' in Russia. Theoretically sophisticated, it illuminates Russian as well as Romani culture, and delves into issues of naming, mobility, transgression and authenticity. This book is a must for anyone interested in advances in anthropology as well as contemporary Russian culture."--Caroline Humphrey, co-author of The End of Nomadism?: Society, State, and the Environment in Inner Asia "[Lemon] is imaginative and insightful in her analysis of Pushkin, whose fleeting, romanticized observations on Gypsies have stifled alternative understandings of the Roma in Russia... [a] valuable contribution to the field."--TLS, June 8 2001

""Between Two Fires" addresses an important series of topics for anthropology in general and for the study of the Soviet Union and for postsocialist Russia in particular. Lemon weds current theoretical concerns to an understudied but significant community."--Martha Lampland, author of "The Object of Labor: Commodification in Socialist Hungary"

Acknowledgments
Notes on Orthography and Transcripts
>Introduction
1. Pushkin, The Gypsies, and Russian Imperialist Nostalgia

>2. Roma, Race, and Post-Soviet Markets

>3. “What is Your Nation?” Performing Romani Distinctions
4. The Gypsy Stage, Socialism, and Authenticity

>5. The Hidden Nail: Memory, Loyalty, and Models of Revelation

>6. “Roma” and “Gazhje”: Shifting Terms

>7. Conclusion: At Home in Russia
Appendix A. Roma and Other Tsygane in the Commonwealth of Independent States

>Appendix B. Dialect Differences

>Appendix C. Vlax-Lovari Romani Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
Index