Fun without vulgarity : community, women and language in Showland Society

Much of the literature relating to the history of fairs and travelling communities is written from the perspective of an outsider and deals mainly with the material culture of the societies concerned. The aim of this study is to shift the balance back to the community itself and investigate the notions of belonging, group identity and the customary lifestyle of travelling showpeople. Although there are approximately 250 fairs which take place from April through to November every year, little is known about the lifestyle, history and culture of the showpeople that present these attractions. Fairs have long held a fascination for an assortment of writers and chroniclers, but the history and traditions of the society behind the fair remain virtually unknown. Through the use of tape-recorded interviews and archival sources a comprehensive body of oral, photographic and documentary evidence has been brought together to form the corpus of material necessary for this study. The resulting data selected for presentation has been analysed in detail and, by applying the methodologies practised by social anthropologists, linguists and cultural historians, has been broken down into three principal focal topics: the relationship between showpeople and other Travellers; the role of women in the community; and the use of language. These topics were chosen as central to the analysis of changes that occurred in the traditional society in the late 1880s and which have shaped the development of the fairground community in the twentieth century. The study reveals the fluidity and development of the traditional culture of travelling showpeople, analyses the status and role of women within the community, and demonstrates the importance of linguistic usage in maintaining a strong sense of separate identity within the contemporary travelling communities. The advantage of the insider’s perspective has provided significant new insights into the society and culture of travelling showpeople.