Parodizing American Progressive Era in E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime

Abstract

The present thesis seeks to analyze the novel Ragtime from the discourse of parody. The notion of parody heavily verges on the theoretical base of Linda Hutcheon. This research foregrounds that the device of parody employed in Ragtime subverts the basic chant of Progressive Era represented in the official history. By exposing the bleakness of the social conditions, Doctorow, in his novel Ragtime parodizes the notion of equality justice and progress that are associated with American Progressive Era .The centrality of this novel lies in its representation of the official historiography through critical revisiting and ironic dialogue of the past.