ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES 304 - Courtesan Culture in China and Japan

Institution:

Hobart William Smith Colleges

Subject:

Description:

Look up the word "courtesan" in a dictionary, say Merriam-Webster's 10th 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 uses 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. (Blan chard, Fall, offered occasion

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

WWW.HWS.EDU

Phone Number:

(315) 781-3000

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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