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