AustLit

Dean examines how point of view and focalisation construct subject positions and ideologically inscribed assumptions in two children's novels, Berlie Doherty's Dear Nobody and Sue Gough's A Long Way to Tipperary. Her analysis focuses on 'the extent to which the ideological impact of each text varies according to its possible interpretative subject positions' and her intention is to make clear how important it is for readers to 'become aware of how ideologies operate in fiction so they may be more empowered to identify equivalent ideological apparatuses in their experiences in the actual world (31). Dean concludes that Doherty's novel creates the opportunity for the reader to 'adopt multiple subject positions...empowering them to read against the grain and negotiate meaning' (36). On the other hand, Gough's novel 'employs an authoritative narrative voice in order to construct a seemingly objective point of view' and the reader is 'in danger of being unknowingly subjected to the ideologies of the text (36).