swana resources
a gimmick account focused
on providing resource for SWANA
culture references.
| admin info | @swanaresource |
|---|---|
| basic desc | hi! i'm mana i'm half lebanese and wanted to make this account for fun & to help with avoiding harmful/offensive representations of SWANA culture! |
resources
want to design a SWANA character? or learn of the cultures?
feel free to look at these resources for a starting point!
REMEMBER!
It's important to represent cultures respectively and to avoid colonialist depictions! If you'd like to learn more about this, please look into the topic of Orientalism.
| Type of Resource | Resource |
|---|---|
| Research | When doing research on SWANA cultures, you should focus on one culture as it is disrespectful to treat these cultures as single monolith for the rest. Each culture is unique to the rest, to learn more of this you should research it! It is of course important that you take care to mind where you are getting these resources. Try to find sources from those from that culture rather then outsiders. It is common for people to come across Orientalist paintings and depictions of SWANA cultures, so be mindful that you take care to note this in your references. |
| Palestinian Folklore Thread | Want to base your character off folklore? Here's a thread on Palestinian folklore! |
| Southwest Asian Tattoos | Don't know what cultural tattoos to give you OC? Here's a carrd that provides a gallery for Southwest Asian tattoos with categories dedicated to each! |
| What is SWANA? | Uncertain about the definition of SWANA? Please refer to this thread of infographics that summarizes it as well as how to refer to SWANA people and the geographical region. |
| Instagram References | Need some place to find references? This post highlights four Instagram accounts that can help and can even be your starting point to find other accounts! |
| Iranian Civilization Resource | Want to learn specifically of Iranian civilizations? This encyclopaedia provides a comprehensive tool to study them! |
| Afghanistan Archives | Interested in exploring the culture of Afghanistan? Scrolling through this archive on tumblr is one way that you can! |
| Iran Archive | Need to find images of Iranian culture throughout history or learn more of the culture in different points of history? This website can be of help! Note that although it looks shady there are some great starter references on it! |
| Videos on Orientalism | Sara, an artist based in Kuwait, has videos on her TikTok that discuss Orientalism and its effect on representation of SWANA people; this can help be aware of staged references. |
| Traditional Clothing across the World | This blog is an excellent resource for fashion pertaining to not only SWANA people but from cultures elsewhere, with a very helpful navigation to help you find the specific country you are trying to reference or find more references for! |
| Anthropology Resources | Here is a masterlist consisting of many resources for different countries and the cultures that once resided or are currently residing within them! The blog that owns the masterlist is also a great source for finding some references for certain cultures thanks to their tagging. Make sure to checkout their archive as well. |
| World History Encyclopedia | In general, it is a great idea to use this encyclopedia to learn more about the culture you are trying to reference. It is a great starting point for your research! |
More to be added!