Blogpost by Sophie Schollenberger and Dr. Radmila Mladenova Sinti and Roma in Corinna C. Poetter’s Children’s Book “Jukli”: A Critical Analysis

Authors’ note: All of the following citations of the book Jukli as well as the literature are translated from their German original. For a better reading experience, translations are used in the main text. For the German original of each citation, please refer to the corresponding endnote. 

“Jukli oder wie ich einen kleinen Esel an der Backe hatte und nicht mehr loswurde” (Jukli, or How I Got Stuck with a Little Donkey and Couldn't Get Rid of It) is a children's book by German author Corinna C. Poetter, which addresses the themes of “family, friendship, and identity” (publisher's description). The target audience for the book, first published in 2022, are children aged 11 and above. It tells the story of Flora, an outsider who struggles to fit in at school and has a rather tense relationship with her two older brothers. One day, she meets Mamou, an elderly Romani woman, and befriends her (and her donkeys, Cocotte and Jukli). Flora now visits Mamou regularly and learns about her and her family's history. Jukli, the donkey foal, is to be entered in the stud book at a donkey festival in France – for which Mamou plans a trip with the donkeys. But Cocotte dies, Mamou suffers from a severe weakness and is hospitalized for several days, and Flora is asked to take her place and make the journey with Jukli (and the help of Mamou's family). She sets off for France, where she meets various relatives of Mamou and finally makes it to the donkey festival just in time.    
In the following, various aspects of the book and its portrayal of Romani characters in terms of culture and history, social positioning and the appearance of individuals will be discussed to encourage a critical discussion of the images used. 

Culture and history of Romani people portrayed in "Jukli"

The book addresses the centuries-long discrimination and persecution of Sinti and Roma, both directly and indirectly. The self-designation “Sinti and Roma” is briefly explained, and the history of the German minority is described with reference to stereotypes: “travelling people” with horse-drawn carts, originating from India, “searching for a good place to live”ⁱ as a description that potentially ties in with modern antigypsyist representations of poverty migration (Poetter 38f.). The external designation “Zigeuner” (“Gypsies”) is paraphrased as the Z-word, whose role as a racist external designation is explained in one sentence. The word itself is not written out in full.    
Mamou first explains the genocide of the Sinti and Roma by the National Socialists on an abstract level, then on the basis of her family history and specifically by means of a family photo (Poetter 38-40). At the beginning of the conversation, Mamou vaguely describes that all the people in the picture are dead; when asked, she formulates it more clearly: “They are all dead. The Nazis killed them”ⁱⁱ (Poetter 40). When asked for the reason for the persecution, she simply states: “They were Z-children, that's why!”ⁱⁱⁱ (Poetter 40). This statement about the reasons for the persecution and the persecution itself is not further elaborated upon. However, when Flora asks about the perpetrators and society's responsibility, Mamou explains:

“No, Flora, it wasn't you, child. Or your people. These were evil people. And that was a long time ago.”^iv (Poetter 40)

In this way, the crimes of the National Socialists and the perpetrators are explained without overwhelming young readers or confronting them with the issue of guilt. The family history is used as an illustration of the minority's experience of persecution. Around the middle of the book, one of Mamou's cousins explicitly describes the everyday discrimination and stereotypes that Roma people still encounter: “We supposedly have no proper education and live on social welfare”^v (Poetter 95). Furthermore, there is no prominent localization or explanation of the social conditions today. 

The author repeatedly depicts Romanes as the language of the Romani characters and conveys it as part of the cultural identity of the minority. Mamou repeatedly uses individual words in Romanes (such as čhaj – ‘child’) in conversation with Flora in order to communicate with her, but she does not understand them.  In addition to conveying cultural distinctiveness, this can also be interpreted as attributing to the character an incomprehensible, possibly mysterious culture beyond the majority culture (Krausnick 34-36). The conflict between presenting the Romanes language as cultural heritage and at the same time not reinforcing the topos of the mysterious, enigmatic “gypsy character” could possibly have been resolved by more numerous translations. It is also surprising that some Romanes words are adapted to the Latin alphabet without special characters. This is particularly evident in the title name “Jukli”, which “actually stands for žukli”, a stubborn girl in Romanes (Poetter 38). It would be understandable if Mamou had adapted the name to the French alphabet without special characters for the entry of the donkey foal in the stud book. It remains unclear why Mamou also uses the adapted spelling when she uses it in the meaning of the word, but not as a proper name (e.g. Poetter 38). This is reinforced by the fact that “Jukli” is pronounced like “žukli”, i.e. it can probably be represented with the sound “ʒ”. This is close to the French pronunciation of “j”. The pronunciation of “j” in German as “ʒ”, on the other hand, is mainly common in loan words. The extent to which this is familiar to readers in the target group and how often it leads to an (unintentional) distortion of the word remains to be seen.  Unfortunately, there was no further prominent explanatory note regarding pronunciation or the special characters used in the book, thus enhancing the probability of unclear pronunciation by the readers.

Alternative worlds – portrayal of social status

The book conveys a range of Romani living environments by giving Mamou and her relatives, whom Flora meets on her journey, a voice, while also highlighting a plurality of conditions and experiences through the description of their living circumstances. At the same time, it illustrates different relationships with mainstream society: while Mamou lives in her house away from mainstream society, her niece lives in a luxurious apartment complex in a good location – but makes sure that her social circle does not know that she is a Romani woman.
However, the descriptions of the houses can also be read as stereotypical and problematic. Mamou, for example, does not live in a house, but in a "hut". The book describes the environment as follows:

“Somehow, I suddenly find myself standing in front of the pile of bulky waste behind the railway embankment. Today, the motorway is roaring loudly. […] I carefully make my way across the wild rubbish dump. Something furry and large scurries away beneath me. “Eek!” A rat! Was that a rat? I hastily stumble down from the rubbish and run past the bramble hedges to the overgrown gardens. […] I zigzag across narrow grass paths past garden sheds with collapsed roofs. An old bathtub stands by the side of the path, filled with green water and millions upon millions of mosquito larvae. […] A large green wooden gate looms ahead of me. A sign reads: “No trespassing – warning, firearms in use!” […] The noise from the motorway is now deafening[.]”^vi (Poetter 12-14)

The book thus revisits traditional stereotypes of life on the margins of society, surrounded by dirt and rubbish. Here, Mamou, the first character from the minority, evokes a repertoire of antigypsyist images that immediately characterise Sinti and Roma as standing outside society. This antigypsyist view cannot be dispelled as the story progresses – the association with “rats” in Mamou's neighbourhood is an image that is repeatedly used in extremely derogatory reports about the minority. Similar depictions can be found, for example, in Hergé's comic “The Castafiore Emerald” from the Tintin series:

The book also describes Mamou's close cohabitation with the two donkeys and the passage between living space and stable, thus presenting a constellation that is far removed from the modern way of life and unfamiliar to Flora (Poetter 30f). This can be read as a romanticisation of pre-modern lifestyles, which corresponds to an established aspect of the culturally established image of Sinti and Roma in children's and young adult literature (Kalkuhl/Tschäpe 135).

The description of Bella's home, Mamou's grandniece, also contains some stereotypes: she lives with her family in a socially deprived neighbourhood, so Flora encounters negative reactions when she asks passers-by for directions (Poetter 150). The description of the street itself highlights the contrast between the cramped houses on the narrow street and the hospitable reactions of their inhabitants (Poetter 151). Bella's house itself is hardly described, but her coexistence with “too many animals”^vii (Poetter 159) is: at least one cat, one dog and one pig. The omnipresence of (domestic) animals ties in with the description of the family image from 1937. This may give the impression that living with (a large number of) animals is traditionally part of the culture of the family or of the minority in general, thereby reinforcing the stereotypes and prejudices mentioned above.

At the end of the book, the celebration at the donkey festival is described: they sit around the campfire, guitars are played, “a young woman sings along”^viii, and the visitors dance (Poetter 169). Thus, as one of the last impressions of the book – and as a connecting element between Flora's companions, who (apart from Mamou) come together at the festival – two common stereotypes are reproduced: On the one hand, the travelling of members of the minority who come together for festivals, as well as celebrating around the campfire with music and dancing on the other hand, which also appears frequently in visual representations such as comics and films (Mihok 104-106). This motif can also be found in “Die Juwelen der Sängerin” (The Castafiore Emerald) – both in the comic and in the animated series:

During her journey, Flora is also dropped off at the home of one of Mamou’s cousins, Sasa, who lives in an apartment building in Paris (Poetter 88). The description of Sasa's flat stands in stark contrast to the descriptions of the minority's lived culture as described above. Flora describes the flat as the exact opposite of Mamous's hut: large, stylishly equipped with designer furniture and art on the walls (Poetter 92f.). During her stay, Flora realises that Sasa – unlike the family members she has known so far – conceals her identity as a Romani woman from her social circle, as she has achieved social advancement through studying beyond the stereotypes described and does not want to risk this (Poetter 95f.). This may create the impression that a good social position and social advancement are not compatible with openly living as a member of the minority.

Individuals with golden earrings?

The description of the Romani characters is also diverse, offering an individual portrayal that goes beyond the mere reproduction of stereotypes. They symbolise different biographies and life circumstances and seem to break through prejudiced expectations. At the same time, they appear in the plot as secondary characters in order to provide Flora with a (more or less plausible) reason and support for the road trip. This is an established narrative structure, as Mihok also describes: “Overall, the 'gypsies' are neither heroes nor protagonists, but rather add colour to the stories, create atmosphere or paint a picture of the mood. They are, so to speak, 'guest characters' who have something special and extraordinary about them and appear as a marginalised group. At most, they serve to increase the tension.”^ix (Mihok 107; see also Kalkuhl/Tschäpe 120). This contradicts the assumption that the characters shape the narrative as individuals beyond a stereotypical image.

In addition, the external description of the characters seems to be strongly rooted in stereotypes. Flora describes Mamou’s appearance when they first meet as follows:

"An old woman stands before me, leaning on a gnarled walking stick, and grins at me. 
She wears old-fashioned gold earrings that sparkle in the sun.“^x (Poetter 7)

Thus, from the very first encounter, a stereotypical image of a “gypsy figure” is drawn as an old, presumably stooped woman with “knotty hands”^xi (Poetter 7) and conspicuous gold jewellery, which has an effect on readers without Mamou having to be explicitly introduced as an individual or as a member of a minority. Although this portrayal is broken by the later introduction of Mamou and the telling of her family history, which weakens the sense of foreignness that had already been created, at the same time stereotypical portrayals are also associated with personalised/individualised characters and carried forward. The description of the women with gold earrings appears several times in the book, including in the description of the family photo. The characterisation of the women by their gold earrings represents an established stereotype in the construction of “gypsy characters”, which can also be found in pictorial representations such as Hergé's comic.

Furthermore, the description of the family photos also serves other stereotypes beyond the earrings: 

"Horses can often be seen alongside them, or donkeys, dogs of course, with covered wagons in the background and women wearing long skirts and patterned shawls over their shoulders. I notice that many of the women are wearing Mamou’s earrings.“^xii (Poetter 39).

Mamou’s grandniece Bella is also described with a focus on her earrings:

"I have never seen such a beautiful woman. Everything about her radiates. My gaze wanders to her golden earrings, large sparkling hoop earrings that swing elegantly when she moves.“^xiii (Poetter 155).

At the same time, Bella – in stark contrast to Mamou – is portrayed as a young, exceptionally beautiful woman, which again corresponds to stereotypical representations. Flora also uses the attribution of “most beautiful woman in the world” (Poetter 156) when it comes to whether Bella can elicit her secret, thereby linking these two pieces of information, which are actually independent of each other. Thus, the constant emphasis on Bella's beauty, which appears to be relevant to the development of the conversation, could be read as a sign of seduction (to reveal the secret), whereby the description offers connections to the stereotypical portrayal of young, pretty “gypsy figures” as “femmes fatales” who exploit their beauty to gain advantages.
Sasa's appearance, on the other hand, the cousin who tries to conceal her belonging to the minority, is not described in further detail. This creates a conspicuous gap: she is one of the few Romani women in the book who are mentioned by name and who do not correspond to the stereotypical representations with earrings. Thus, even in its external descriptions of the characters, the book establishes a strict separation between the appearance of the majority society and that of the minority. The lack of description of Sasa (in contrast to her stylish apartment) can give the impression that the (female) members of the minority are described in an exoticising manner if they do not want to conceal their identity. Sasa is described in the book as merely “elegant”, but no further details are given. Only in the description of some holiday photographs displayed in the flat is her clothing (swimwear, graduation gown) briefly mentioned (Poetter 90-96).

Conclusion

When working with the book, following Michail Krausnick's remarks (46), attention should be paid not only to the author's intention but also to the effect on the reader and the impact of the portrayal on Romani people – are stereotypes reproduced or rather reflected upon, are stereotypical expectations broken and overcome? In summary, it can be said that the book addresses historical and existing discrimination against Sinti and Roma and describes the majority of Roma appearing in the text as individuals. However, it can be considered problematic that the book transfers various established “gypsy motifs”, which have been shaped by the artistic and cultural perceptions of the majority society, to Roma characters without further reflection, thereby reinforcing the image of the minority. This does not seem to be a rare phenomenon in children's and young adult literature. Kalkuhl and Tschäpe describe the problem as follows: “Both poles of the image, romantic and negative clichés, are part of the codification of what we understand as ‘gypsies’ and often transferred uncritically onto Sinti/Roma – antigypsyism therefore does not only mean the open, declared hostile rejection of Sinti/Roma. Even supposedly positive images are prejudices that reduce the minority to a perception that they cannot control themselves”^xiv (Kalkuhl/Tschäpe 117). Also is the difference between the cultural construct of the “gypsy”, referred to in the book as the “Z-word”, and the identity as Roma not examined in any detail. There is a danger that, despite the enlightening approach, the “imagined images [...] will be absorbed uncritically, unconsciously passed on and [...] continue to be effective”^xv (Mihok 113) among the readers of this book. This makes it all the more important to take a critical approach to the book in educational work in order to break through these familiar representations and further reinforce the positive aspects of the narrative. 

This text was produced within the framework of the sub-project Antigypsyism-Critical Film Analysis, which forms part of the collaborative research project Mediale Antiziganismen – von der interdisziplinären Analyse zur kritischen Medienkompetenz (MeAviA).