Encyclopaedia Almanica is a collection of tweets, collected by Amina Aziz.
Finished on: 21.9.2024

Content Note: (critical treatment of) racism, ableism, sexism, queermisia

“Plot”:
Collecting tweets from six BIPoC living in Germany, Ferraeterin, Hrmpfm, Ayesha Khan, Bahar Sheikh, Hengameh Yaghoobifarah and Zugezogenovic, this little book tries to capture their experiences and preserving them, as the tweets of outspoken minorities are disproportionally affected by deletion and reporting.

Encyclopaedia Almanica is a quick read, and a nice collection of tweets (back from the good old days when they still were tweets and not Xs) that cover a range of perspectives, experiences and moods. Sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes simply funny, it is more than just a snack, despite the snack-size.

I followed some of the authors that contributed to this book, though I couldn’t say whether I was familiar with the tweets collected here in particular. Anyway, reading it now, a few years later, it already felt a bit like a nostalgic trip back in time to encounter them again – that’s how much twitter has changed since the take-over.

The tweets here really do cover a wide range of topics. From calling out racism, ableism, sexism and queermisia in Germany (a lot of which is the same in all of Europe, I think) to memes and jokes, the collection has space for different facets and I loved that. Too often, BIPoC get reduced to the role of educators about racism for white people (and the same is true for other marginalized groups), while ignoring that there is more to them and their lives than being BIPoC and experiencing racism.

But the main focus is still the sharing of knowledge. Knowledge about living in Germany as a BIPoC, though not necessarily sharing the knowledge with white people, which gives it a different angle. In any case, there were a couple of things that gave me a fresh perspective, and that’s always something I enjoy.

Summarizing: definitely worth reading.