A Narrative Analysis of Discursive Representations of Roma Homicide in Hungary

Dóra Dalma, B.A.

Master's thesis

Abstract:

In my thesis, the issue under scrutiny is related to the Hungarian Roma murders and their narrative structure. The ethnic-based homicide was committed by four neo-Nazi men in Hungary, in the year of 2008-2009. I argue that the events of the brutal homicide and the following discourses and narratives can be described by Victor Turner’s social drama theory. I employed hermeneutic methods to elaborate the relationship of Roma attacks and cultural performance. I will apply interpretative method connected to structuralism and semiotics, placing the focus on narratives, classification formulas and binary codes. I will examine semantic structures related to ethnicity and race. I assume that thanks to the theory and tools of social drama I can depict the social context of the Roma murders, and I can analyze the evolving narratives. My main research questions are the following: How and why did the homicide happen and how were they articulated in the public discourses afterwards? How did Roma people, civic and political actors react? How can the theory of social drama describe and frame the events? I put forward the claim that the Hungarian social drama took off when several Roma people beat a non-Roma man to death. This was the first stage, the breach which was followed by the crisis and redress when the attacks first started, and public opinion was influenced by different strong narratives both from the liberal and conservative side. The fourth stage of social drama involves the possibility of reintegration. In the case of Roma murders, we can talk about the reintegration of the killers and the victims at the same time. Roma people represent the deviant part of the society, while the perpetrators also possess a radical character (radical right wing). In my thesis, I am going to elaborate the evolving discourses and narratives through the process of social drama, trying to highlight the characteristics of different narratives emerged from the events. I used tables to visualize and sum up the significance and meaning of different binary codes or oppositions, which have a strong impact on formulated public opinion. I also analyzed the role of artistic representations in the formulation for social drama, how they shaped and controlled social attitude.

Keywords

hermeneutics, discourse analysis, narrative analysis, Roma murders, Hungary, binary codes, Victor Turner, social drama, representation, collective memory, collective tragedy, power, social suffering, media, art

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 31. 5. 2017

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 21. 6. 2017
• Supervisor: Dr. Werner Binder
• Reader: doc. Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky, Ph.D.

Masaryk University

Faculty of Social Studies

Master programme / field:
Sociology / International Joint Master's Degree in Cultural Sociology