African-American and Romani Filmic Representation and the ‘Posts’ of Post-Civil Rights and Post-EU Expansion

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29098/crs.v1i1.8

Keywords:

African-American, Film, Roma, Race, Representation

Abstract

In this article I explore linkages between the evolution of African-American filmic representation and the patterns of Romani representation in films from Central and Southeast Europe (CSEE). More specifically, I use the 1970s Blaxploitation movement and subsequent shift of African-American representation into films reliant on a realist aesthetic to contextualize analysis of the shortcomings of the Civil Rights Movement to provide broad integration for African-Americans. Given other similarities between the racialized positionalities of African-Americans and Roma, I argue that Blaxploitation can illuminate trends in the cinematic depictions of CSEE Roma, since the Roma Rights movement has had to contend with similar shortcomings in achieving political, social, and economic inclusion. The films I analyze in this piece include Roming (2007), Just the Wind (2012), Episode of an Iron Picker (2013), and Bravo! (2015).

Author Biography

  • Sunnie Rucker-Chang, University of Cincinnati, Ohio

    Sunnie Rucker-Chang is an Assistant Professor of Slavic and East European Studies in the German Studies Department and Director of the European Studies Program at the University of Cincinnati. Her primary interests lie in contemporary cultural movements and identity formation in Central and Southeast Europe. In her work, she examines how literary and filmic works contribute to cultural landscapes and offer insight into the formation of nations and nationalities, particularly as they relate to minority-majority relations and constructs of difference.

Additional Files

Published

04/13/2018

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2018)

Section

Arts and culture

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How to Cite

African-American and Romani Filmic Representation and the ‘Posts’ of Post-Civil Rights and Post-EU Expansion. (2018). Critical Romani Studies, 1(1), 132-148. https://doi.org/10.29098/crs.v1i1.8