Will they still be dancing? (1982)

equirements better than the Wallachian burdelj ... The tyranny of the Romanian lords, the
godlessness ofthe church, heavy state taxes, and the corruption ofthe authorities were the
causes of these conditions" (Dordevic 1923, from Marjanovic 1981:42. Our translation).
However, it is probably much too simple to describe today's Wallachians of the
Krajina as the offspring of Romanian speaking immigrants from Wallachia.
Autocthonous Romanized and South Slav populations have probably blended
into what is today's Wallachian population of the Krajina and northeastern
Serbia.
In the same way as the Wallachians themselves are ambiguous about their
own ethnic identity Yugoslav ethnologists are ambiguous about Wallachian
ethnogenesis. 14 Barjaktarovic (1973), Marjanovic (1981) and others discuss the
Wallachians in terms of a possible ethnohistorical "amalgamation" of several
groups induding settled Romanized population elements and later immigrants
to the Krajina-not only Romanian groups from Wallachia and Hungary but
also immigrants from southern Serbia and Kosovo.
According to this view, the historical position ofthe Krajina as a buffer zone
bordering shifting state formations as Byzantium, Bulgaria, Serbia, Wallachia,
Hungary and Turkey paved the way for the formation of complex ethnic
amalgamations. Migrations in both directions over the Danube were frequent
and extensive over the centuries. The ambiguity about Wallachian origin in the
Krajina is even attached to the fact that several different groups ofimmigrants
"became Wallachians" in order to enjoy Wallachian border privileges.
However, the historical process of "amalgamation" has often been connected
with forced cooperation and conflicts. This can be illustrated by the following
Serbian proverb:
"0 Turtine, za nevolju kume, a Ii Vlaie, silom pobratime"
("Oh, you Turk, misery's godfather, oh you Vlach, enforced blood brother").
In view of frequent political storms and pervasive social perturbations which
have passed over the Krajina for centuries, one can envision that this border
area has also been exposed to violent conflicts. The local population has
conserved the memory ofviolence and unrest in a traditional designation of the
Kiajina area as "The Blooddrenched Shirt" ("krvava kosulja"; Marjanovic
1981). Continuous movement of refugees and migrations within and beyond
the region is the background to memories of persecution and bloodshed.
The history of a single ethnic group is easily lost in the streams of refugees.
This makes it difficult to determine with certainty the historical and cultural
roots of the various groups. But this does not mean that ethnically distinct
groups have disappeared. Rather, they have been transformed through mutual
contacts and influence, retained some of their original traits, lost others, and
added new ones. Itis still plausible in today's ethnic "amalgam" to draw ethnic
boundaries between Wallachians, Serbs and a small group of Montenegrins in
the area. These boundaries consist mainly ofthe language, variations in family
39