CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

a. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Reading English novel is interesting. By reading English novels people can

improve English ability and also can learn about literature. Studying literature makes
readers know, aware, and realize the problems in real life and can change the readers’
perspective in looking at around or the world. By reading literature people can also
learn about other cultures that might not exist in the countries or just exist in other
countries. Every countries’ in the world has a different culture and custom. For
example, Indonesia is a big country that has a lot of cultures and customs which has a
difference with another island or city. Moreover, another country also has their own
culture and custom, like Japan. As a monarchy, Japanese society also has a custom
that they cherish from their ancestors. The cultures and customs in Indonesia and
Japan are so different, so that we can learn the culture and customs from both
countries.

Now, there are various novels and films that reflect cultures of societies and
nations. One of them is Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (born in 1956 in
Chattanooga, Tennessee) is the writer of the bestselling novel Memoirs of a Geisha.
This novel was released in 1997 and it took two years on the New York Times
bestseller list. The novel has sold more than four million copies in English and has
been translated into thirty-two languages around the world. In 2005, Memoirs of a
Geisha was made into a movie, directed by Rob Marshall and Ziyi Zhang and Ken
Watanabe as the actress.

After reading the novel and watching the film Memoirs of a Geisha the writer
learns new cultures. They are Japanese culture and Geisha. Geisha only exist in Japan
and have become a part of Japanese culture. Memoirs of a Geisha gives an illustration
of the interaction between people in Japanese society and also a picture of geisha’s
life. Besides, the novel describes the perspective among the society about geisha
 itself. The challenge is to discuss people's perspective about geisha, especially
people's perspective in the old era based on the novel with people's perspective
nowadays which has become the topic of this study.

b. RESEARCH QUESTION(S)

1. How does people’s perspective about geisha in Arthur Goldens’ Memoirs of a

Geisha?

2. How does people’s perspective about geisha nowadays?

3. What makes the differences between people’s perspective based on the novel
Memoirs of a Geisha with people’s perspective nowadays?

c. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Through this study, readers will be able to understand more about geisha. Many
people think that geisha is a woman who works as a prostitute but in real life, geisha is an
artist. The word artist here means that geisha entertains a man or people by dancing,
playing Japanese instruments, or having a conversation with a man or people in the
teahouse. This study provides information about peoples’ perspectives about geisha itself
and is there any difference between peoples’ perspectives based on the novel and
nowadays. By analyzing Memoirs of a Geisha, the writer gets a picture of geisha,
especially people's perspective about geisha.

d. DEFINITION OF TERMS

Geisha means an artist in Japanese. It comes from Japanese characters gei 芸

which has a meaning “art” and sha 者 means “person” so the word geisha literally
means “ artist, performing artist, or person of the art”. Geisha is a professional
hostess who entertains guests through various performing arts and they live in a
dormitory called okiya. Geisha also known as geigi or geiko. They have skill in
classical dancing, singing, playing a banjo- like stringed instrument called the
shamisen and witty conversation to entertain the guest or clients (Perkins,1991:111).