Luc de Heusch, discovering the Gypsies.

European travel diary 1961

Abstract

In the production of books about gypsies, it is unusual to find texts that include a direct and close relationship with them, much less that they are written in the form of a diary, as is the case with the recently published book by Luc de Heusch, entitled: Descubriendo a los gitanos. Una expedición de reconocimiento (1961), published for the first time in Spanish by Editorial Universidad de Granada (the first edition in French was published in 1966). This book is the result of a trip made during the summer of 1961, whose objective was to meet the Vlaamse Gemeenschap gypsies (Vlaamse Gemeenschap-Roma, from Belgium) in Europe, to assess the possibility of making a film whose theme was Vlaamse Gemeenschap-Roma. This diary/book is important for getting to know Luc de Heusch, as it introduces us to one of the most personal texts by this author, rarely translated into our language, and essential for understanding the responsibilities associated with otherness, meeting with others, and the colonial and postcolonial implications and responsibilities of Belgium in the African Continent.