Beware the Moon and Keep off the Moors

I had intended to cleave to my dissertation topic and write about instances of diaspora in urban dance films, but I got caught up in the spirit of the season and decided to write about gypsies and werewolves instead. Also this paper will allow me to address my ongoing interest in the concept of Balkanism, the political and geographic reality of the Roma, and the romanticization of gypsy culture in our collective imaginary. So here is my old school paper abstract:

Drawing from current studies on the Roma, the mythologized conception of the gypsy in popular culture, and the theories of Balkanism that seek to deconstruct and redress those stereotypes, I plan to explore the strategic deployment and attendant meanings of the gypsy figure, specifically in the American horror film. Gypsies are undeniable stock figures in the genre, exemplified by the Universal horror cycle of the 1930s and 40s, and as an established generic staple they have unquestioned semiotic value. As part of the gothic mise en scene, their appearance and narrative function have become familiarized to contribute a sense of supernatural Europe in the popular imaginary.

Instantly recognizable by a codified set of traits, horror film gypsies perform on a dual level: diegetically they serve as harbingers of doom and vessels of wisdom within the story, and on the level of representation, these characters (and the actors who portray them) are performing their “gypsyness,” in a manner that adheres to the theories of Balkanism and that ties in to larger and ongoing debates about Roma identity, stereotypes, and persecution. As the perennial dark Other, gypsies punctuate the European filmic landscape as outré curiosities, alluring but suspect, and they are meant to convey an air of old world antiquity and the ineffable unknown. But rather than relegate the gypsy as a plot mechanism who imparts exposition, or simply a visual design motif, we should assess the gypsy’s function and placement in horror movies and its political, racialized dimensions as a social critique or xenophobic caveat that is reflective of the production era and extracinematic concerns. As my textual analysis, I will be examining two versions of The Wolfman (1941 and 2010), both of which rely heavily on gypsy mythology and fetishization but to very different ideological ends, given their disparate social and political contexts.