CELEBRATING CROWN DAY AFTER THE 1990S SAXON MIGRATION: RECONFIGURATIONS OF ETHNICITY IN A SOUTH TRANSYLVANIAN VILLAGE
CELEBRATING CROWN DAY AFTER THE 1990S SAXON MIGRATION: RECONFIGURATIONS OF ETHNICITY IN A SOUTH TRANSYLVANIAN VILLAGE

Summary/Abstract: In this paper I discuss reconfigurations of ethnic relations in a village in South Transylvania following the migration of most of its Saxon population to Germany. I use the example of a yearly celebration, the Crown Day, to explore continuities and transformations in ethnic identities and relations between the remaining Saxons, Roma, and Romanians, and in particular transformations in what it means to be Saxon, in the village, in 2011. Using participant observation and formal and informal interviews about past and recent celebrations, I show how Crown Day serves as a site of performing and renegotiating historical legitimacy as well as a continued, albeit transformed, investment in the Saxonness of the village. I argue that the celebration continues to serve as a rehearsal of the local symbolic ethnic order, while mirroring the increasing dominance of the Romanian population as well as recent opportunities and obstacles in the transformation of the status of the local Roma. The symbolic and social space opened by non-Saxon participation in the festivities and their preparations represents an opportunity to confront and mitigate the social and cultural changes following the departure of their Saxon co-villagers. For all in the village, the Crown Days gives a way to discuss, instantiate, and act on the recent transformations in the village.

• Details
• Contents