"The Roma as the Concept of the Stranger " key note speech by Maria Bogdan at the RGPP Student Presentations 2016-2017

June 21, 2017

 As a media theorist my main focus is to understand the modern forms of racism against Roma in Hungary through the images that are represented in the Hungarian media. The basis of my theoretical and analytical approach are cultural studies and within I especially focus on the representation theory (Stuart Hall), postcolonialism (Spivak), poststructuralism (Derrida) and the theories of the stranger. Based on my research I have worked out a theoretical approach that describes both, the way how the media functions when talking about the Roma in Hungary, and the position of the Roma in the Hungarian society. In my presentation I summarize the main points of my approach with the help of some examples.


Maria Bogdan is a media theorist and journalist. Her main research interest is related to media representation and modern forms of racism. She has been doing her PhD at the Corvinus University of Budapest, focusing on the media representation of the Roma in Hungary. She is a Fulbright Alumna and has done part of her PhD research for a year at Columbia University in the City of New York. She worked as a journalist at different television programs, radio stations and newspapers. She is a researcher at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Minority Studies.

Photo: CEU/Zoltan Adrian, Kepszerkesztoseg.