READING FICTION FOR WHAT IT IS: IDEOLOGIES VS PLOT DEVICES IN ARTHUR GOLDENʼS MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

Abstract

When Arthur Goldenʼs novel Memoirs of a Geisha was published in 1997, it became an overnight success. It stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for more than a year (Smith), and had sold four million copies in English and had been translated into 32 languages by June 2001 (Sims). The novel received critical acclaim worldwide, and inspired a successful eponymous Hollywood film released in 2005, whose worldwide box office sales amounted to 161.5 million USD (The Numbers). Goldenʼs tale of Sayuri, who is sold to a geisha house at a young age, but who overcomes all obstacles, becomes a star geisha, and wins an extramarital partnership with the man she has loved since girlhood, has been applauded by readers from different parts of the world. However, the authenticity of the presentations of Japanese culture as well as geisha culture in the novel has been questioned. Scholars and journalists alike have commented that Golden has had three barriers to overcome in writing the novel. Dinitia Smith observes: