The Aestheticization of Romani Otherness in 18th-Century Interludes

Abstract

Based on a critical reading of the interludes published during the 18th century in Portugal, this study aims to demonstrate how Romani women were portrayed in the Portuguese literature of that period as embodiments of pre-scientific magical practices, supposedly at odds with modern rationality. Through the tension inherent in the production of the work of art, this paper discusses the apparent subversion of expectations produced by the analyzed narratives when compared to discourses that insisted on the image of romani/gypsy women as deceivers. Thus, the objective is to highlight the process of aestheticization of gypsy otherness, as a particular form of identity logic belonging to the system of representations of modern thought. The aim is to make explicit the violent effects of this discursive positioning of romani women as supposedly external to modern sociability, insofar as it reiterates the basic principles of social exclusion produced by anti-romani/ anti-gypsy sentiment.