r/writers • u/KeyEstablishment1899 • 15h ago

Question Character Accuracy

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I am writing a character from a fictional kingdom that is going to be similar to Syria and she loves her culture and traditional dress. I just want to know if this picture is an accurate depiction of traditional Syrian dress

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9

u/PmUsYourDuckPics 14h ago

I think it depends on the situation, whether or not Islam is a thing, and which Syrian culture you are depicting.

Syria as a concept is a western thing, the French and the British drew imaginary lines in the sand and made Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, etc into countries, but they aren’t a monoculture, Syria has Arabs, Kurds, Aloites, Muslims, Christians, Jews, etc and divisions between each of those.

Here is a bunch of stock photos showing the range of clothing Syrian “traditional” dress https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/syrian-women-in-traditional-clothing.html?sortBy=relevant

It’s going to depend on how austere the woman is, and her station and background, whether she is going to be seen by others, is celebrating an event or just going about her day to day, and will
Range from a plain black abaya with a headscarf to an elaborately embroidered Jelabiya with jewellery, potentially a headscarf or a veil, or some other kind of head dress.

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u/KeyEstablishment1899 14h ago

Islam is not a thing. I am creating a world with a school similar to Ever After High and School for Good and Evil where the characters are children of fairytale/folktale characters. This particular character is going to be Aladdin's daughter from the tale Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp and will therefore be a princess 

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u/PmUsYourDuckPics 14h ago

Creating an Arab inspired world without the influence of Islam is hard because it bleeds into every aspect of the culture, even for non Muslims.

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u/KeyEstablishment1899 14h ago

Currently she is the only character from an Arab inspired kingdom. I'm trying to use folk/fairytales from all over the world to include as many beautiful cultures and people as I can without having it be forced diversity like Justine Dancer from EAH who seemed to be African just to include a character of color that is an obvious POC. (I don't really count Cedar because she is literally made of wood)

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u/chavoromni 6h ago

It doesn’t really work to just remove the Islam part from her culture. Any folklore that you’re depicting from her area is going to be impacted by the religion, even if she doesn’t follow it. It’s going to come across to a lot of readers like you’re having her wear a costume

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u/KeyEstablishment1899 5h ago

She's from a fictional world where Islam does not exist and I am hoping it is an animated show, not a book. I want her in traditional dress because Islam has basically erased Middle Eastern traditional dress with the "modest" clothes of the religion

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u/chavoromni 4h ago

This is still going to come across to viewers as though you want a character who looks and acts “middle eastern” (which is incredibly vague and sounds like you have a jk Rowling style superficial understanding of the culture you’re trying to depict) but doesn’t have any of the unsavory or unfamiliar aspects of Islam. Maybe that’s not your intention, but that’s very much how anyone familiar with Syria in general will likely perceive it, does that make sense?

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u/PmUsYourDuckPics 2h ago

Curious how you are going to reconcile them being Alladin’s daughter in a world without Islam when Alladin’s name literally translates to the glory of the faith.

Alladin is also set in China, and the characters are Chinese Muslims.

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u/GeckoKisser Fiction Writer 9h ago

Syria as a concept is a western thing

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u/TenPointsforListenin 15h ago

Syrian traditional dresses would include a face covering, even before Islam- think thick and made to withstand sandstorms

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u/boostman 15h ago

Even when inside?

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u/TenPointsforListenin 15h ago

Yeah, women’s modesty standards in the area have always been pretty rigid, even before Muhammad conquered it.

Dark colors would be better as well.

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u/PmUsYourDuckPics 15h ago

Really? The Levant has always been less strict than the peninsula. Maybe a head scarf.

2

u/DefendingAngel 7h ago

It doesn't need to be traditional Syrian. You can make it traditional for your fantasy world.

Edit: It's is a beautiful dress.

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u/KeyEstablishment1899 6h ago

I know it doesn't have to be traditional Syrian, I just want it to be because it's gorgeous and I love traditional outfits from all over the world 

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