The name is absent

136

Traditional nationalist symbols, discourses, and flows are coming to be redefined
among the mainstream population relative to an emerging transnational existentialism, as
indicated by changing consumer practices, while the Roma continue to pursue a civic
identity attentive to the nationalist elements they are broadly denied. The emerging rift
between these populations can thus be considered in terms of differing social
significances of the country’s early modem past. Whereas the Roma regard elements
from this period as central to their identity and position within society, non-Romani
Greeks have largely turned to other discourses and conditions in defining their citizenship.
This is not to say that early modem Greek discourses and symbols are altogether
unimportant to the mainstream population, but rather that they have become less
authoritative in terms of identity negotiation¹³⁵. At the market, Roma sellers have
adapted to new consumer tastes and modes Ofbargaining by replacing the folk aspects of
their market performance with tactics catering to a population that determines value
independently of this. Key among these new tactics are the offering of spontaneous
“loyalty discounts” to customers purchasing more than one kind of produce at a time, and
remaining stoic in response to incoming taunts from competing vendors. They have also
taken advantage of the growing indifference toward the product’s place of origin to
purchase cheaper supplies brought in from abroad. All but abandoned are outright sales
tactics rife with nationalist overtures, overt or implicit links to folk tradition, and ultra-
Greek identity performances.

For some Romani sellers this has been a difficult shift, in fact, many stall owners
now hire immigrants to serve customers. These immigrants do not engage in calling,

¹³⁵ Of note, there is even a turn away from representations of Greek-ness rooted in this early modem period
in theatre and other mediums.

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