To consider the merits of Memoirs of a Geisha for classroom instruction, it is imperative, I believe, to take account of this popular reception. audiences whose fans (more female than male) range from students and professionals, to housewives and workers (manual, office, and retired). As the amazing popularity of this book attests, Golden’s story of Gion, set mainly in the three decades between 1929 and the mid 1950s, has touched a chord in U.S. The book traces the tumultuous path of the girl Chiyo’s transformation into a geisha (Sayuri), which is laden with incredible hardship but also the sublime aesthetics of a disappearing world.

So starts Arthur Golden’s best seller, a novel written in the guise of personal memoirs by a geisha whose story begins in 1929 when, as a nine-year-old girl, she is taken from her rural home in Yoroido and sold to a geisha house in Kyoto. Sometimes you almost make me believe your little jokes are real.” That’s like making tea in a bucket!” And when he’d laughed again, he said to me, “That’s why you’re so much fun, Sayuri-san. Re-envisioning Asia: Contestations and Struggles in the Visual Artsĭownload PDF “The very idea!” he said, with another laugh.Distinguished Service to the Association for Asian Studies Award.Distinguished Contributions to Asian Studies Award.Striving for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Asian Studies: Humanities Grants for Asian Studies Scholars.Gosling-Lim Postdoctoral Fellowship in Southeast Asian Studies.

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