Lectures: MW 1:25-2:50pm, 212 Houghton House
Office Hours: M 3:00-4:00pm, F 1:30-2:30pm, or by appointment, 208 Houghton House

Look up the word “courtesan” in a dictionary, say Merriam-Webster’s tenth edition, and one finds the following definition: “a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele.” Historically, however, the courtesans of China or Japan have been women whose appeal lay primarily in their surpassing musical and literary cultivation, not their sexual services. This multidisciplinary course will use the textual sources and visual representations that record or celebrate courtesan culture to examine the demimonde of the elite Chinese “singing girl” or the Japanese geisha across the centuries, with some attention to Western conceptions or misconceptions of their roles and relationships. The course is cross-listed with Art and Women's Studies. It addresses Goal 6 partially (an intellectually grounded foundation for the understanding of differences and inequalities of gender, race, and class), Goal 7 substantially (knowledge of the multiplicity of world cultures), and Goal 8 partially (an intellectually grounded foundation for ethical judgment and action).

Textbooks:

• Kang-i Sun Chang and Haun Saussy, ed., Women Writers of Traditional China: An Anthology of Poetry and Criticism (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999).
• Ellen Widmer and Kang-i Sun Chang, ed., Writing Women in Late Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997).
• Liza Dalby, Geisha, 3rd ed. (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2008).

• Marsha L. Wagner (1984), “Popular Tz’u Poetry in the Entertainment Quarters after 755,” Chapter 4 of The Lotus Boat: The Origins of Chinese “Tz’u” Poetry in T’ang Popular Culture (New York: Columbia University Press), 79-103.
• Paul Rouzer (2001), “Honor among the Roués,” Chapter 7 of Articulated Ladies: Gender and the Male Community in Early Chinese Texts (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press), 249-83.
• Beverly Bossler (2002), “Shifting Identities: Courtesans and Literati in Song China,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 62, no. 1: 5-37.
• Texts on Han Xizai, translated by Lara Blanchard.
• Stephen Owen (1994), “Meaning the Words: The Genuine as a Value in the Tradition of the Song Lyric,” in Voices of the Song Lyric in China, ed. Pauline Yu (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press), 30-69.
• Ronald C. Egan (1994), “The Problem of the Repute of Tz’u during the Northern Sung,” in Voices of the Song Lyric in China, 191-225.
• Janet R. Goodwin (2000), “Shadows of Transgression: Heian and Kamakura Constructions of Prostitution,” Monumenta Nipponica 55, no. 3 (Fall): 327-68.
• Michele Marra (1993), “The Buddhist Mythmaking of Defilement: Sacred Courtesans in Medieval Japan,” Journal of Asian Studies 52, no. 1 (February): 49-65.
• Rayjashree Pandey (2004), “Poetry, Sex and Salvation: The ‘Courtesan’ and the Noblewoman in Medieval Japanese Narratives,” Japanese Studies 24, no. 1 (May): 61-79.
• Yung-Hee Kim Kwon (1988), “The Female Entertainment Tradition in Medieval Japan: The Case of Asobi,” Theatre Journal 40, no. 2 (May): 205-16.
• Yung-Hee Kwon (1986), “Voices from the Periphery: Love Songs in Ryojin hisho,” Monumenta Nipponica 41, no. 1: 1-20.
• Victoria Baldwin Cass (1999), “Geishas,” Chapter 2 of Dangerous Women: Warriors, Grannies, and Geishas of the Ming (Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield), 25-46.
• Dorothy Ko (1994), “Transitory Communities: Courtesan, Wife, and Professional Artist,” in Teachers of the Inner Chambers: Women and Culture in Seventeenth-Century China (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press), 251-93.
• Susan Mann (1997), “Entertainment,” Chapter 5 of Precious Records: Women in China’s Long Eighteenth Century (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press), 121-42.
• Jean Wetzel (2002), “Hidden Connections: Courtesans in the Art World of the Ming Dynasty,” Women’s Studies 31, no. 5 (September/October): 645-69.
• Tseng Yuho (1993), “Women Painters of the Ming Dynasty,” Artibus Asiae 53, no. 1/2: 249-61.
• Marsha Weidner, ed. (1988), Views from Jade Terrace: Chinese Women Artists 1300-1912 (Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1988), 72-88, 94-102, 143-44, 147.
• Judith T. Zeitlin (2006), “ ‘Notes of Flesh’ and the Courtesan’s Song in Seventeenth-Century China,” in The Courtesan’s Arts: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, ed. Martha Feldman and Bonnie Gordon (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 75-102.
• Cecilia Segawa Seigle (1993), Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press), 1-13.
• Elizabeth de Sabato Swinton (1996a), “Reflections on the Floating World,” in The Women of the Pleasure Quarter: Japanese Paintings and Prints of the Floating World, by Elizabeth de Sabato Swinton et al. (New York: Hudson Hills Press), 13-45.
• Elizabeth de Sabato Swinton (1996b), “The Artistic Vision,” in The Women of the Pleasure Quarter, 107-33.
• Mark Oshima (1996), “The Keisei as a Meeting Point of Different Worlds: Courtesan and the Kabuki Onnagata,” in The Women of the Pleasure Quarter, 87-105.
• Patricia Fister (1988), Japanese Women Artists 1600-1900 (Lawrence, Kans.: Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas; New York: Harper & Row), 47-54, 69-83.

Weekly Schedule

Week 1.          Jan. 20. Introduction.

Week 2.          Jan. 25-27.  The entertainment quarters of Tang China.
Text:  Wagner 1984; Rouzer 2001; Women Writers 56-82.

Week 3.          Feb. 1-3.  Scholars, courtesans, and representation in Song China.
Text: Bossler 2002; Women Writers 106-108; texts on Han Xizai.
*Research session Wednesday*

Week 4.          Feb. 8-10. The female voice and authenticity in Song and Yuan China.
Text:  Owen 1994; Egan 1994; Women Writers 115-26.
*Response paper due Wednesday*

Week 5.          Feb. 15-17.  Sex workers and society in Heian and Kamakura Japan.
Text: Goodwin 2000; Marra 1993.
*Research paper proposal due Wednesday*

Week 6.          Feb. 22-24. Female entertainers and poetry in Heian and Kamakura Japan.
Text: Pandey 2004; Kwon 1988; Kwon 1986.
*Response paper due Wednesday*

Week 7.          Mar. 1-3. Courtesans and society in Ming and Qing China.
Text: Cass 1999; Ko 1994; Mann 1997.
*Quiz this week*

Week 8.          Mar. 8-10. Courtesan-painters in Ming and Qing China.
Text: Wetzel 2002; Tseng 1993; Weidner 1988.
*Response paper due Wednesday*

 [March 13-21, SPRING BREAK]

Week 9.          Mar. 22-24. Courtesans and literature in late Ming and Qing China.
Text: Writing Women 17-100; Women Writers 224-38, 320-36, 350-57, 366-69, 421-25, 688-89, 695-700, 736-39, 744-46, 762-64.
*Annotated bibliographies due Wednesday*

Week 10.        Mar. 29-31. Courtesans, music, and drama in late Ming and Qing China.
Text: Zeitlin 2006; Writing Women 101-30.
*Response paper due Wednesday*

Week 11.        Apr. 5-7. Courtesans and society in Edo and modern Japan.
Text: Geisha 49-75; Seigle 1993; Swinton 1996a.
*Quiz this week*

Week 12.        Apr. 12-14. Courtesans and the arts in Edo and modern Japan.
Text: Swinton 1996b; Fister 1988.
*Response paper due Wednesday*

Week 13.        Apr. 19-21. Courtesans and performance in Edo and modern Japan.
Text: Oshima 1996; selections from Geisha.
*Discussions Wednesday*

Week 14.        Apr. 26-28. An anthropological perspective on contemporary geisha.
Text: selections from Geisha.
*Discussions Monday and Wednesday*

Week 15.        May 3. Conclusions.

Exam Week.   May 9. Research papers due.

Course Requirements

1.         Class Participation (15%). This includes regular and punctual attendance (see attendance policy), participating in discussions in class or on the Blackboard discussion board, and commenting on the class blog. I grade participation on a daily basis, as follows: check-plus for speaking up in class or on the discussion board (even to ask a question or to answer one of my questions incorrectly), check for showing up to class but not speaking, check-minus for not paying attention or coming in late, zero (0) for not coming to class at all.

2.         Quizzes (10%). Quizzes will be administered on Blackboard and available for one week. They are noted on the calendar and cannot be made up if missed.

3.         Online reflections (15%).  Throughout the semester I would like you to post five times to a password-protected class blog, located at http://courtesanculture2010.wordpress.com. What you will be writing about are your reflections on the original Chinese and Japanese materials that we will be studying. These can include examples of poetry and other literature, painting, calligraphy, drama, and potentially music. More details to follow.

4.         Response papers (25%). Throughout the semester you will write several one-page papers responding to some of the readings. More details to follow.

5.         Discussion (10%), TBA. This is to be a discussion of aspects of contemporary geisha, based on Liza Dalby’s book. More details to follow.

6.         Research paper (25%), due Sunday, May 9, 10:00pm. This is to be a long research paper (roughly 10 to 15 pages) on some aspect of courtesan culture. More details to follow.

Office Hours
I am happy to meet with you outside of class during my office hours (see top of syllabus), or at another time that is convenient for you, in 208 Houghton House. The best way to reach me to set up an appointment is by e-mail, but please note that I regularly read e-mail only between 9:00am and 4:30pm.

Attendance Policy
I consider attendance at lectures to be mandatory. Asian studies is a challenging subject; don't make it impossible by skipping class! That said, if you have a reasonable excuse for missing a class, I expect you to notify me as soon as possible--preferably in advance--and to turn in a one-page essay on the topics covered on the day of your absence, within a week. Not doing so will give you a 0 for participation for that day. If you are absent three times or more, you should be prepared for me to notify the Deans about your performance. I will be taking attendance regularly. NOTE: leaving early or returning late for Spring Break does not count as an excused absence.

Attendance and Religious Holidays:
“The Colleges accept the responsibility of making available to each student who is absent from class because of religious obligations and practices an equivalent opportunity to make up any examination, study or work requirement missed.”
Please inform me in advance of any religious holidays when you will be out of class. I do my best to avoid religious holidays with regard to due dates, but there are times when that is impossible.  Please talk to me if you have any difficulties!

Format for Written Work
One of the things you will learn in an art history class is the importance of presentation. This applies to your written work as well:

1. Type all work in a 12-point font.
2. Double-space.
3. Leave one-inch margins on all sides.
4. Number your pages.
5. Staple your work.
6. Put your name on every page, and the date on the first page.
7. Check that your spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct--these are crucial to effective communication of your ideas. Your grade will drop if you have excessive errors.
8. If you cite another source, use either parenthetical references or footnotes. (See A Note about Cheating and Plagiarism below.) Make sure that you follow a standard documentation style such as MLA or Chicago style.
9. Include a picture with a caption if appropriate (and please attach it to a clean sheet of paper--do not give me a loose postcard, an illustration torn from a magazine, or a copy of the book you found the picture in. Black-and-white photocopies are okay).

A Note about Cheating and Plagiarism
I will not tolerate any form of academic dishonesty. Not only does it destroy the trust that I have in you to do your best, it is unfair to the other students, and obviously you will not learn anything if you resort to cheating. If I find that you have cheated on a test or on a written assignment, you will receive a zero for the assignment and I will contact the Deans and/or the Committee on Standards about your case.

Now, just in case you are not clear about what plagiarism is: plagiarism is the use of someone else's words or ideas without giving that person credit. In application, this means that in your writing assignments, you need to cite your sources. When quoting directly from a text--say, five words or more in succession--you need to put those words in quotation marks and include a parenthetical reference or footnote citing the source. When rewriting a passage from a text in your own words, you don't need the quotation marks but you do still need the parenthetical reference or footnote. If you don't understand exactly what constitutes plagiarism, or how to use parenthetical references or footnotes, please ask me. I would prefer to explain what it is and how to avoid it before it happens rather than after.

Grading
Quizzes will receive numerical grades; the research paper will receive a letter grade. Online reflections, response papers, and discussions will receive a check-plus, check, or check-minus.  Make-up written assignments, which count as part of your participation grade, will not receive a letter grade but a check or check-minus. If you are unsatisfied with a grade, please prepare a written statement explaining what grade you think you should have received and why, and submit it to me along with the assignment for review.

Assignments are due during the class period on the due date. Please turn in a hard copy of papers. PLEASE NOTE:  I mark down one-third of a letter grade (for example, from A to A-) for each calendar day that a paper is late. If you think you will need an extension, you should talk to me as early as possible.

My grading scale is as follows:

A Note about the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL)
Hobart and William Smith Colleges encourage students to seek academic collaborations and resources that will enable them to do their best work.  Students who would like to enhance their study skills, writing skills, or other academic skills may visit the CTL website at http://www.hws.edu/academics/ctl/index.aspx or contact the CTL at x3351.

Disability Accommodations
If you are a student with a disability for which you may need accommodations, you should self-identify and register for services with the Coordinator of Disability Services at the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), and provide documentation of your disability.  Disability related accommodations and services generally will not be provided until the registration and documentation process is complete.  The guidelines for documenting disabilities can be found at the following website: http://www.hws.edu/disabilities.

Please direct questions about this process or Disability Services at HWS to David Silver, Coordinator of Disability Services, at silver@hws.edu or x3351.

Websites
There are two websites for this course: one at my homepage, http://people.hws.edu/blanchard/ASN304/; and one at Blackboard, http://courses.hws.edu. This syllabus, the paper assignments, review sheets for the tests and links to online resources for Buddhist art can be found at both. The Blackboard site also has a course calendar, daily handouts, selections from the coursepack and an online gradebook. In addition, there is a password-protected class blog at http://courtesanculture2010.wordpress.com.