Courtesan Arts, edited by Martha Feldman and Bonnie Gordon, Oxford Press 2006, provides an excellent overview of the subject in European musical culture as well as striking descriptions of the Yoshiwara pleasure quarters by Timon Screech and contemporary singing girls in India by Amelia Maciszewski.
Shiraz
Brookshaw, Dominic Parvez, “Odes of a Princess”, Iran Vol. 43, 2005
Brookshaw, Dominic Parvez, “Love and Desire in Pre-Modern Persian Poetry and Prose”, Iranian Studies, Vol.42, No. 5, 2005.
Eftekhari, Pirouz, Poètes Persan Désir et Civilité by Pirouz Eftekhari, Harmattan, 2016, is a plea to read Persian poetry as about carnal love, and not Platonic
Gray, Elizabeth Jr., The Green Sea of Heaven, 50 ghazals of Hafez (1995) and Wine and Prayer, 80 ghazals of Hafez (2019). An excellent introduction to and contemporary translations of Hafez, both at White Cloud Press.
Losensky, Paul, “Poetics and Eros in Early Modern Persia” in Iranian Studies, Vol. 42 No. 5, 2005.
Mathee, Rudi “Prostitutes, Courtesans and Dancing Girls” in Iran and Beyond, Matthee and Baron, ed. Mazda, 2000.
Zaker Jafari, Narges, “The social Position of Women within the Safavid Dynasty Musical Community” International Journal of Arts and Commerce, Vol. 4, No. 7, 2015.
Dehli
Burkhardt Qureshi. Regula, “In Search of Begum Akhtar”, The World of Music Vol.52, No. 1/3, 2010. This writer is a reference on ghazal singing,
Manuel, Peter, “A Historical Survey of the Urdu G̱azal-Song in India”, Asian Music, Vol. 20, No. 1 1988 - 1989
Minault, Gail, “Bagmati Zuban” India International Quarterly Vol. II No. 2, 1984. Examines the bawdy origins of Urdu poetry.
Pukhraj, Malka, trns, Saleem Kidwai, Song Sung True: A Memoir, Zubaan Books, 2007. Autobiography of one the last tawaifs, court entertainer to the last Maharaja of Kashmir.
Ruswa, Mirza Mohammad Hadi, Umrao Jân Ada, Orient Paperbacks, 1970. The Urdu novel which gave rise to multiple screen retellings.
Russel, Ralph & Khorshidul Islam, Ghalib’s Life and Letters, Oxford, 1995. This is the standard English biography.
Diwan, Saba, Tawaifnama, Context Publishers, 2019. A magisterial study of the Tawaif culture of Benares in the 20th century by a renowned documentary film maker. See my review here.
Talwar Oldenburg, Veena, “Lifestyle as Resistance”, 1990. Invaluable insight into the world of the Tawaifs based on field work in the author’s native Lucknow.
Yangzhou
Berg, Daria, “Courtesan Editor”, T’oung Pao, Vol 99, Fasc. 1/3, 2013.
Berg, Daria, “Cultural Discourse on Xue Susu”, International Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2009.
Henriot, Christian, “Chinese Courtesans in Late Qing and Early Republican Shanghai”. East Asian History, No. 8, 1994.
Ko, Dorothy, “Teachers of the Inner Chambers”, T’oung Pao, Sec. Ser. Vol. 84, Fasc. 1/3. 1998.
Mao Xiang & Yu Hai, edited by Wai-Yee Li, Plum Shadows and Plank Bridge: Two Memoirs About Courtesans, Columbia University Press, 2020. Read my review here.
Olivová, Lucie B. and Børdahl, Vibeke. eds., Lifestyle And Entertainment in Yangzhou, NIAS Press, 2009. Brings to life this important city of culture of Ming and Qing dynasty China.
Shen, Grant “Acting in Private Theatre of the Ming Dynasty” Asian Theatre Journal, Vol. 15, No. 1, 1998. Describes the motivations and the setting of performances retold in Chapter 3.
de Troia, Paolo, “Love and Passion in Late Imperial China” Rivisti degli Studii Orientali, NS, Vol.78, Sup No. 4, 2007. Takes Suzhou as the subject but provides much colour around the splendid world of the songstress.
Peng Xu, “Courtesan vs. Literatus: Gendered Soundscapes and Aesthetics in Late-Ming Singing Culture” T'oung Pao, Vol. 100, Fasc. 4/5, 2014. Professor Xu is herself an opera singer and writes extensively on Ming opera.
Zurndorfer, Harriet T. “Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Confucian Moral Universe of Late Ming China”, IRSH 56, 2011. Informs my views of gender politics in late Ming culture and the elite position of the songstress.