ABSTRACT
The Gitanos' image of themselves as a group is thus remarkably different from other Western ideas about what makes a mass of individuals a 'people'. In particular, the Gitanos of Jarana lack an understanding of 'the Gitanos' as a society, if one understand by 'society', 'the system or mode of life adopted by a body of individuals for the purpose of harmonious co-existence or for mutual benefit'. At the same time, the Gitanos do not make dichotomy between persons and 'the Gitanos' as a group because it is persons themselves who metonymically embody the ideal of the group: it is only in action, through personal moral performances, that such an ideal is realized. In the absence of external media through which to objectify their identity, the Gitanos turn to themselves to their bodies and their actions. The hierarchical and unequal positions in which men and women stand modified by principles of age and kinship are thus also objectifications of Gypsyness.
