The name is absent

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importance to the local economy and to poor families and the cache associated with
having wide reaching networks of non-Romani Greek contacts, most Roma identify the
traditional Greek-ness of the market and its connection to the national folk tradition as a
major source of prestige. Not only do Romani market vendors participate in a space
closely associated with Greek folk tradition, but they must also master the performance of
traditional Greek folk identity in order to be successful. Specifically, Romani sellers
must become proficient in what may be called “market calls”, or the poetic taunts and
jibes stall keepers direct at their competitors and the lyrical rhymes advertising their
products to passers-by. Typical calls locate the product’s place of origin to particular
villages and growers in the countryside; more established vendors can even refer to their
own reputations in promoting their products or challenging competitors. This latter
strategy hints at the conflation of the Greek masculine identity which is in turn rooted in
folk culture (see Herzfeld 1985) and successful vendor performances. These
performances are part of the market milieu and have for decades been considered an
indicator of product quality: the better or more entertaining the call, the more “folk” the
seller seems, and the better his/her product is considered to be. So, on a practical level,
the more proficient the Rom is at performing the folk identity, the better they fare at the
market, the more the community benefits. Symbolically, however, the more proficient
the Rom is at performing the folk identity, the better they are able to transcend the
RomaZnon-Roma divide, the more they are able to live an integrated life true to the Roma
identity. In effect, these individuals seem to resolve the conflict between who the Roma
perceive themselves to be and who they are permitted to be in the public sphere. Market
vendors, like the thieves who bring construction material from archaeological sites to the

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