Sineb El Masrar Almans and spaghetti ice cream

“Sind wir nicht alle ein bisschen Alman?” (Aren’t we all a little bit Alman?), is the title of a book by Sineb El Masrar. In this interview with the author you will learn what is typically Alman, what we need to change about our conversation culture, and the answer to the crucial question: what’s your favourite – doner kebab or spaghetti ice cream?

Verena Hütter: Sineb, the title of your book is “Aren’t we all a little bit Alman?”. Who or what is Alman?

Sineb El Masrar: In the languages of Maghreb or in Turkey, Alman means a German person. The word is derived from the French and has its origins in the Germanic tribe of the Alemanni. Since migrants started coming to Germany as “guest workers”, the term has entered public awareness – in particular amongst the young; people who come from Turkey for example, or Morocco, where my roots lie.

And the term in itself has neither positive nor negative connotations?

In itself, it simply means quite neutrally a German person – unlike Kartoffel (potato) or Kraut (cabbage), as the Germans have also been called during the course of history. Conversely in the so-called majority society of Germans, Italians were contemptuously known as Spaghettifresser (spaghetti gobblers) for a long time. And people from Turkey were called Knoblauchfresser (garlic gobblers).

Cliché or truth?

Reading your book, I had to smile at your description of people who at first glance wouldn’t be considered typically German, people with a migration background who absolutely can have a generous helping of “Alman” in them – in other words qualities you’d call stereotypically German. You said it, you yourself have Moroccan roots, where do you stand on this, Sineb, are you really Alman yourself?

There are various attributes that are typically Alman or typically German: punctuality, pedantry, a willingness to work hard, an inventive spirit, bread, potatoes – whatever. These include a few things I identify with. For instance I was incredibly punctual for many years – until I moved to Berlin. One thing I do like to identify with is the inventive spirit – I established a magazine for women when I was in my twenties. I really like the fact that I had the opportunity to do such a thing in this country. That’s typically German too.

The magazine you established was called “Gazelle”. What career path did you follow? Did you always want to be an author?

As a child I wanted to be a fashion designer. But my father talked me out of that relatively quickly. So I trained in two professions, in the fields of education and business. I was always a huge consumer of women’s and girls’ magazines and I would skim-read a lot, and in the process there was something I noticed very early on: no publications exist for girls like me with a migration background, or the reality of their lives is not adequately reflected.

Whenever there was coverage of people with a migrant background in Germany’s diverse media, it was mostly dramatic horror stories. There was no such thing as the stereotypical Joe Public lifestyle. I wanted to change that. I wanted to create a magazine that really helps to depict the life realities of women with migrant backgrounds in Germany. Back then I was working for a market research company in Bochum. I used the knowledge I gained there for an extensive survey and I saw that there was a market but as yet no product. That was in 2003. And then I spent three years working on a women’s magazine concept, the outcome of which was Gazelle.

Spaghetti ice cream or doner kebab?

You mentioned the inventive spirit, and you talk about that in your book too. You introduce two wonderful inventions, inventions with a migration background, you might say: spaghetti ice cream and the doner kebab. If you had to decide between the two, what would you order: doner kebab or spaghetti ice cream?

Spaghetti ice cream was part of my childhood, I grew up with it. Kebabs are something I came across later, I think I ate my first doner aged about 14. That’s a difficult choice! In emotional terms it would be the spaghetti ice cream. But only yesterday one of those doner kebabs simply saved my life – so ideally I’d choose both! (laughs)

In your book you quote the German-American psychologist Hugo Münsterberg, who in around 1900 claimed that a German, in other words an Alman, “takes pleasure only in his pipe, beer, and skat” and “is paralysed by bureaucracy” – which Alman personality trait bothers you the most?

I struggle with bureaucracy. The thing is, it’s often strongly linked with a lack of flexibility: not being in a position to break away from fixed routines. If I keep following the same path, I’m not going to invent anything new or improve any processes. In situations that call for creativity and a spirit of invention, new pathways are needed as well.

Cheerful or deadly serious?

How did your book come about, what gave you the idea for it?

It was a reaction to very many discussions I’d had, all about Almans, potatoes and the questions “Who are we?”, “Who are the others?”. My trademark is that I like to deal with subjects in a humorous way. And humour is something I’ve often found lacking in the discourse. I already wrote my first book Muslim Girls in a very cheerful tone, with quite a twinkle in my eye, even though it’s a serious theme. That was important to me once again here: humour, light-heartedness, not being so deadly serious about everything, and just chilling a bit. 

The book was seen as an attack by some people. For me that’s an indicator that much has gone wrong over the past few years in the discourse surrounding the themes of migration, integration and people with an immigration background.

You say there were negative reactions to your book, what shape did they take?

There were a few press opinions on the book, which were also shared on social media. Comments under the posts were prolific – full of hate and aggression – and often from people who hadn’t even read the book or the article about it. My new book comes out at the end of March 2024. And it’s all about how we communicate with each other. I aim to highlight the dynamics behind that, and also where the need for constant outrage comes from. In this country we have many problems that we have to face. To deal with them, we must be in a position to listen. First of all to listen, and only then can we formulate counter-arguments where appropriate. But the most important thing is to find solutions. 

We are a diverse society. We aren’t always in agreement, we don’t all live the same life. But as a society we must find a consensus. We must meet somewhere in the middle, where everyone can say: “Okay, I can sacrifice that part so that we can live together well as a community”.