The new soviet man as a “gypsy”: Nomadism, war, and marginality in stalin’s time

Abstract

This essay explores the history of nomadic Gypsies (tsygane) in the Soviet Union prior to, during, and after the Second World War. It asks what this history of itinerancy, displacement, and marginality can tell us about Soviet society more generally. It argues that nomadic Tsygane on Soviet territory under Stalin were not so much exotic outliers but rather an extreme example of the displacement and homelessness of these decades.