La romaní in Italia tra rappresentazione e legittimazione

The article reflects on the dynamics connected with representation (including self-representation) and legitimation of Romani in Italy, taking into consideration the attitude of Romani speakers towards they ancestral language as well. Romani communities are settled in Italy since the early modern era and have solid roots in the Italian cultural space. Romani speakers of old settlement in Italy are all Italian citizens, but are divided in many groups. These communities differ considerably from one another. They have different self-representation and show different linguistic repertoires, in which the role and the endo-communitarian representation of Romani can vary very significantly. Among the many issues bound to these differences, it is worth highlighting the fact that some Roma and especially many Sinti are generally not favourable to share Romani outside their communities. This attitude, well documented among the Sinti in other countries as well, its current diffusion and its weight in the debate about the legitimation of Romani among the minority languages of Italy will be also discussed. In any case a fundamental fact remains evident: Romani is spoken in Italy by many thousands of Italian citizens belonging to Roma and Sinti groups of old settlement and the Law No. 482 / 1999 regarding minority languages does not include Romani among the minority languages to be protected and enhanced. This exclusion finds its roots primarily in an erroneous representation of the Romani communities, perceived as nomadic communities and therefore not bound to a territory; in fact they are no more nomadic at all. This distorted representation is surely very widespread in Italy and has been used in many instances, often as a pretext, to exclude Roma e Sinti from some rights. The situation of Romani language and of its speakers in Italy is therefore rather complex. Romani is spoken in Italy by many people, but not by all Roma and Sinti groups, who in some cases replaced it with a Italo-Romance dialect; it is highly differentiated in many Romani dialects, sometime not mutually intelligible, and this differentiation contributes to the self-perception of Roma and Sinti groups as unrelated the ones to the others. Moreover Romani is considered by many speakers as a code not to be shared outside the community. This intricate landscape in the dimension of self-representation together with the distorted representation of Romani speakers that is found among non-Romani Italian citizens makes complex any step in the path towards a national legitimation, which however remains an important civil right. A recent regional law enacted by the Regional Council of Calabria recognizes the Romani minority and its linguistic specificity. This fact suggests the possibility that local and not national laws can be a more suitable tool to legitimate and protect Romani in Italy.

L’articolo esamina le dinamiche connesse con la (auto-)rappresentazione e la legittimazione della romaní in Italia. Comunità di lingua romaní sono presenti in Italia fin dalla prima età moderna e tutti i parlanti di romaní di antico insediamento nella penisola sono cittadini italiani, tuttavia la legge 482/1999 della Repubblica Italiana "Norme in materia di tutela delle minoranze linguistiche storiche" non include la romaní tra le lingue di minoranza da tutelare. L’esclusione della romaní dalla legge trova la sua radice prima in un’errata rappresentazione dei suoi locutori, generalmente percepiti come nomadi, mentre non lo sono più da tempo. La legge 482/1999 di fatto tutela le minoranze linguistiche legate a un territorio e la falsa, ma diffusa, percezione dei parlanti romaní come nomadi ha offerto un comodo pretesto a chi voleva escludere dalla tutela la lingua dei rom e dei sinti italiani. Il panorama linguistico della romaní in Italia risulta assai complesso e l’articolo si sforza di descriverlo e spiegarlo in diversi aspetti. I gruppi rom e sinti stanziati in Italia parlano dialetti piuttosto diversi, hanno repertori linguistici differenti, non percepiscono di essere accomunati da un’unica origine etnico-linguistica e non hanno gli stessi atteggiamenti nei confronti dell’uso pubblico della romaní. Questi fattori, insieme alla rappresentazione distorta delle comunità rom e sinte presso la cultura maggioritaria, rendono assai complessa la progettazione di un percorso di tutela. Tuttavia il riconoscimento della romaní come lingua di minoranza in Italia rimane un obbiettivo di alto valore civile, che si potrà forse perseguire con leggi regionali mirate.