E. L. Doctorow's The Waterworks: A Polyphonic Novel

Amani, Omid; Ramin, Zohreh

doi:10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.38.64

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E. L. Doctorow's The Waterworks: A Polyphonic Novel

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Abstract:

The present article sets to examine the applicability of Mikhail Bakhtin's concepts of polyphony and heteroglossia to E. L. Doctorow's The Waterworks. Doctorow, by deploying postmodern historiography and blurring the line between the real and the marvelous, portrays nineteenth century New York revisionistically and likewise, depicts how the amalgamation of the monologic, authoritarian power of the imperious capitalism as Augustus Pemberton or the real historical figure William Magear Tweed with the 'excentrics' gives rise to a dialogic, polyphonic quality within the novel. Also, discussed is the centrality of the narrator, McIlvaine that boosts the dialogized ambience and stimulate the effort to decrown the 'regime of power.'

Info:

Periodical:

International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences (Volume 38)

Pages:

64-69

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.38.64

Citation:

O. Amani and Z. Ramin, "E. L. Doctorow's The Waterworks: A Polyphonic Novel", International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, Vol. 38, pp. 64-69, 2014

Online since:

August 2014

Authors:

Omid Amani, Zohreh Ramin

Keywords:

E. L. Doctorow, Excentric, Heteroglossia, Mikhail Bakhtin, Polyphony, The Waterworks

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Open Access

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

References:

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Diemert Brian, Texas Studies In Literature and Language 45(4) (2003) 352-374.

Doctorow E. L., American Review 26 (1977) 215-32.

Princeton: Ontario Review, 1983, 1.

The Waterworks. NewYork. Random House. (1994).

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Harpham Geoffrey Galt, PMLA. 100(1) (1985) 81-95.

Hutcheon. Linda. A Poetics of Postmodernism. London. Routledge. (1988).

Maranca. Richard. Finding a Historical Line: An Interview With E. L. Doctorow., Literary Review. US. Fairleigh University of Dickinson. (1994).

Parks John G., Twentieth Century Literature 37(4) (1991) 454-463.

Said. Edward. Culture and Imperialism. New York. Vintage Books. 1993. ( Received 12 August 2014; accepted 18 August 2014 ).

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