JAPAN 70 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Geisha
Document Summary
Common in japanese: fairytale happy ending, not characteristic of japanese endings. Still somewhat realistic: kafu (cid:862)pai(cid:374)ts(cid:863) a pi(cid:272)ture of this (cid:449)orld, a(cid:374)d (cid:272)learly lo(cid:448)es this (cid:449)orld. Fu(cid:373)iko"s (cid:862)bli(cid:374)d ma(cid:374)"s bluff(cid:863: written in 1962, postwar period, characters are of socioeconomic status that is above the women in sisters of gion. Upper middle to upper class women: narrated by half-sister, big contrast made between ichiko (protagonist geisha and half-sister(cid:895) a(cid:374)d (cid:862)i(cid:863) (cid:894)(cid:449)ho is narrating the story) Socioeconomic difference between the two characters: different upbringing than the narrator. Ichiko is beautiful, sensual (cid:862)i(cid:863) is i(cid:374)telle(cid:272)tual: dynamic in story between love and business/money. People are using people for money: fate plays a major role in the story, bli(cid:374)d (cid:373)a(cid:374)"s (cid:271)luff=(cid:271)li(cid:374)d de(cid:373)o(cid:374) She sees herself as a blind demon. Everyone else is free to go off and have more autonomy and power. As a geisha, ichiko is not autonomous.
