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Russian culture has developed a dual attitude towards Roma people. For centuries, they have been persecuted in Russia, and manifestations of Anti-Roma sentiment are often encountered at the everyday level. At the same time, both in classical works of literature and in modern culture, the image of the Roma is very popular. This image is endowed with a certain list of features, which has remained unchanged from the moment it appeared in literature to the present day.

It is worth noting that in this article I will talk exclusively about texts, because fine art and cinema need to be discussed separately.

To begin with, we can turn to the Network of Word Associations for the Russian language, which can give some idea of the perception of a particular phenomenon by native speakers. It is interesting that if you look for associations to the word "Roma girl" («цыганка» in Russian), it turns out that in many ways (more associations only regarding external features - "skirt", "blouse", "shawl", "beauty", "young", etc.) it is associated by Russian-speaking people with music. Perhaps, hardly any other nationality in Russian culture is so closely associated with music.

Now we can move on to the key literature works. The first striking appearance (and perhaps the most famous) of the Roma people in the texts of Russian literature was Alexander Pushkin's poem "Gypsies". The idea of a free life and liberty of the Roma people was close to the ideals of Romanticism, the artistic movement in the spirit of which the poem was written. According to the plot, Aleko, who came to the Roma settlement from the city because of persecution by the law, was never able to gain freedom, because he wanted it only for himself. At the end of the poem he was directly told about it:

Оставь нас, гордый человек!

Мы дики; нет у нас законов,

Мы не терзаем, не казним –

Не нужно крови нам и стонов.

Leave us, proud man!

We are wild; we have no laws

We do not torture or execute –

We have no need of blood or moans.

(Literal translation of the abstract)

The main character of the poem passionately loves the Roma girl Zemfira, but she will never belong to him or obey his will. This plot will later be very common not only in Russian, but also in foreign literature. For example, here is a fragment of a poem by the Russian poet Afanasy Fet:

Перестань, не пой, довольно!

С каждым звуком яд любви

Льется в душу своевольно

И горит мятежно-больно

В разволнованной крови.

(Афанасий Фет «Цыганке»)

Stop, don't sing, that's enough!

With every sound the poison of love

Pours into the soul willfully

And burns rebelliously and painfully

In the agitated blood.

(Afanasy Fet “To the Roma girl”)

Another stable association with Roma in Russian culture is fun and carelessness. Since the 18th century, noble and merchant festivities were always accompanied by a Romani choir. Descriptions of it can be found in the works of the most famous Russian authors - Leo Tolstoy “Two Hussars”, Fyodor Dostoevsky in “The Karamazov Brothers”, Nikolai Leskov in “The Enchanted Wanderer” and so on. I would like to separately note Aleksander Ostrovsky's drama "Without a Dowry", where the tragic ending occurs to the sounds of Roma singing which is really important for understanding society depicted in the work.

Shot from the film “Cruel Romance” (a screen adaptation of the play “Without a Dowry”), directed by E. Ryazanov, 1984.

The most famous literary works about Romani in the 20th century were the works of Maxim Gorky and Anatoly Kalinin (“Makar Chudra” by Gorky and “Tsygan” by Kalinin), who won the love of Soviet viewers through film adaptations.

One might assume that such ideas about Roma are a thing of the past, but this is not the case. As a representation of relatively modern creativity, I propose to turn to the lyrics of songs of very famous pop performers on the Russian and Soviet stage due to the lack of well-known literature works on this topic.

In Alla Pugacheva’s song “Romani Choir” («Цыганский хор») (1985) Roma and their music are the embodiment of youth and freedom.

Ведите скрипка и гитара

Неразрешимый вечный спор,

Я никогда не стану старой

Пока поет цыганский хор.

Violin and guitar, conduct the eternal dispute,

that cannot be resolved

I will never grow old

While the Romani choir sings.

(Lyrics by I. Reznik)

The story of love for a beautiful and freedom-loving Roma girl, whom the hero can never forget, is embodied in the song “Sera” («Сэра») (1995) of Valery Meladze.

Она сказала мне: "Прости,

Если можешь, -

Груснея день ото дня -

Тебя люблю я, но все же

Дорога манит меня".

Прощай, цыганка Сэра,

Были твои губы сладкими, как вино.

Сэра, знаю, что не будет

В сердце любви иной.

She said to me: "Forgive me,

If you can, -

Growing sadder day by day -

I love you, but still

The road beckons me".

Farewell, gypsy Sera,

Your lips were sweet as wine.

Sera, I know that there will be no

more love in my heart.

(Lyrics by K. Meladze)

Shot from the music video for the song "Sera" (1995)

To sum up, we can say that in the Russian literary tradition, Roma don’t have a pronounced negative assessment. Among the stable associations with this people are:

1. Music;

2. Joy;

3. Freedom;

4. Passionate love.