Geisha & Burakumin
Hello all, I'm an undergrad double-majoring in Anthropology and Japanese Language & Culture, and am rather in desperate need of a little assistance.
I'm presently working on a rather large paper that will, ideally, be a critical review of Liza Dalby's ethnography, Geisha, published back in 1983. It's an extremely famous work, and Dalby is renowned as the "American geisha"... which is the point I wish to contest, as Dalby was never an official geisha after a year of dress up and pretend. (This point was brought up in a number of early scholarly journal reviews, and I've decided I agree and am going to run with it.)
What I need in order to do this is some sort of comparable work on contemporary geisha in Japan. (Contemporary being within the past 40-50 years.) This is proving rather difficult on my end, as it seems anthropological interest in Japan has waned in recent years, so any help would be immensely appreciated! (Papers, books, documentaries, anything is acceptable!)
On another note.... If the geisha paper does not work out due to a lack of resources, I'd like to take a look at Burakumin (Eta in the past), the sort of "Untouchable" class in Japan. This study would be in relation to Shimazaki Toson's The Broken Commandment and any recent studies/news on this group of people. Any pointers in this direction would also be extremely welcome!
Thank you so much for your time!
I'm presently working on a rather large paper that will, ideally, be a critical review of Liza Dalby's ethnography, Geisha, published back in 1983. It's an extremely famous work, and Dalby is renowned as the "American geisha"... which is the point I wish to contest, as Dalby was never an official geisha after a year of dress up and pretend. (This point was brought up in a number of early scholarly journal reviews, and I've decided I agree and am going to run with it.)
What I need in order to do this is some sort of comparable work on contemporary geisha in Japan. (Contemporary being within the past 40-50 years.) This is proving rather difficult on my end, as it seems anthropological interest in Japan has waned in recent years, so any help would be immensely appreciated! (Papers, books, documentaries, anything is acceptable!)
On another note.... If the geisha paper does not work out due to a lack of resources, I'd like to take a look at Burakumin (Eta in the past), the sort of "Untouchable" class in Japan. This study would be in relation to Shimazaki Toson's The Broken Commandment and any recent studies/news on this group of people. Any pointers in this direction would also be extremely welcome!
Thank you so much for your time!