Historical reconstruction and media representation of the earliest known demand for Romani linguistic rights

Abstract This article examines a significant yet often overlooked event in the history of Romani activism – the submission of a petition demanding equal linguistic rights by a delegation of Hungarian Roma to the Austrian Emperor in May 1850. By analysing contemporary sources, we reconstruct the event and explore its historical context, and, by using the Discourse-Historical Approach, we shed light on the media’s portrayal of the Roma and their language. We identify dominant discourses related to ‘nationhood’, ‘belonging’, and ‘inequality’ surrounding the Roma. The article provides fresh insights about the 1850 event and two other grassroots initiatives of Romani activism that followed, all of which indicate a conscious effort by the Roma to address their concerns and aspirations despite the predominantly unfavourable political climate of the time.