AustLit

Bates examines the structure of James Aldridge's The True Story of Lilli Stubeck using a Marxist lens to analyse the the historical and social view presented in the narrative. Paying close attention to Jonathan Culler's discussion of literary discourse and reader-response theory, Bates looks at how 'the text is structured so that it will be read in a particular way and with a particular effect' and as an example of the authors 'attempted manipulation of reader response' argues that Aldridge's use of the Great Depression as a time context is a deliberate technique which is 'intended to produce a response in the reader' (83). Marxism posits that 'the rules of dominance and subordination govern the social and economic order of periods in human history' and Bates argues that the historical context in Aldridge's novel positions the reader to 'accept the background and accumulation of colonial wealth' in a way that both manipulates and satisfies the reader; artistically and intellectually (85).