Romany Life

Cuttriss, FrankProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 332K words
Chapters: 34

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Romany Life by Frank CuttrissAuthor: Cuttriss, Frank,Language: English, Class: DX: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: History of Romanies, Release Date: Dec 8, 2015

Editor's review

This book is an early twentieth-century English work describing Romany life and belongs to ethnographic observation. Its readability comes from the author's plain accounts of travel observations, daily customs, ways of earning a living, and oral traditions, preserving between the lines an outsider observer's curiosity and limitations. Readers can see several facets of Romany life and also sense the imagination and prejudice toward mobile groups in European society at the time; it is therefore better treated as a sample of ethnographic writing history than as authoritative research in today's anthropological sense. The prose is plain and the book short, suitable for relaxed reading by those interested in folklore, ethnic culture, and travel writing. Read with a critical eye, distinguishing on-site observation from hearsay retold by the author.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Romany culture and mobile groups in Europe
Readers who enjoy travel writing and early ethnographic essays
Social science readers studying the construction of ethnic images and observer perspectives
General readers seeking to broaden their English nonfiction reading

Not a good fit for

Those seeking systematic anthropological theory or contemporary fieldwork research
Readers wanting Romany self-narratives from an insider perspective
Those sensitive to stereotypes in early travel writing

Reading tips

Read chapter by chapter, taking notes, and mark on-site observation separately from the author's evaluation.
Read alongside an introduction to contemporary Romany studies to compare perspectives across a century.
Note specific descriptions of customs and livelihoods as folklore material to excerpt.
After finishing, revisit the preface or ending to sort out the author's observational stance and limitations.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Does this book have high anthropological value?

It is closer to travel-observation ethnographic essays than systematic fieldwork research. Its value lies in recording Romany life as seen by an outside observer of one era; it can serve as material for the history of ethnographic writing and the study of ethnic images, but should not be cited as contemporary authoritative ethnography.

Does the book contain prejudice?

As early twentieth-century English writing, it inevitably includes the imagination and stereotypes about mobile groups common in its time. When reading, distinguish the author's firsthand observations from retold hearsay, and view evaluative statements critically.

Is it suitable for English beginners?

The prose is generally plain, but there are still many dialect words, ethnic terms, and old-fashioned expressions. Readers with intermediate English can proceed with a dictionary; beginners should read passages describing daily life and skip the more argumentative sections.

Comments

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About the author

Cuttriss, Frank Author

Frank Cuttriss is an author about whom little public information is available; the only work currently confirmed is Romany Life. Judging from its title, the book most likely concerns the way of life, customs and travels of the Roma (Gypsy) people, and belongs to the genre of observational, documentary writing. Since no reliable records exist for his dates of birth and death, nationality or education, it is difficult to trace his life further, and it would be inappropriate to speculate about his profession or the course of his writing career. On the evidence available, Cuttriss appears to write in a plain, straightforward style, recording the everyday life of a particular community and allowing readers glimpses of aspects of Romany culture. Such subject matter is relatively uncommon in popular English-language writing, so although the length and influence of Romany Life cannot be accurately assessed, it still offers readers interested in Romany life a useful text for reference. A full evaluation of its style and contents must await the disclosure of further material.