The Musical World of Doctorow's Ragtime Author(s): Berndt Ostendorf Source: American Quarterly , Dec., 1991, Vol. 43, No. 4 (Dec., 1991), pp. 579-601 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2713082 JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms The Johns Hopkins University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Quarterly This content downloaded from 139.67.14.98 on Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:53:20 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms The Musical World of Doctorow's Ragtime BERNDT OSTENDORF Amerika Institut Mfinchen WHAT COULD E. L. DOCTOROW HAVE HAD IN MIND WHEN HE CHOSE Ragtime as the title of his best-selling novel of 1975? No more than a loose metaphor for an age if we go by the published literary criticism; for most of it focuses on narrative technique and the book's success or failure as a historical novel. It is time therefore to start reading the book completely, beginning with its title and the epigram by the black composer Scott Joplin. Ragtime refers to a particular music, now considered timeless.