An Antimodern Manque: Monte Holcroft and The Deepening Stream

New Zealanders have a tendency to view our literary history in terms of a progressive – if somewhat stilted - movement through the ‘great’ phases of Georgianism, Modernism and Postmodernism. This article suggests that Monte Holcroft can be used to complicate this narrative. His highly successful 1940 essay ‘The Deepening Stream: Cultural Influences in New Zealand’ was clearly characterised by antimodern tendencies. This insight is important in terms of our cultural as well as literary history, because antimodernism fits well with the themes of ‘Godzone’, ‘Arcadia’ and ‘South Seas Paradise’ that have dominated our past and continue to intrigue cultural commentators. Rather than being noted for his amateurism and questionable ideas, Holcroft should be viewed as an arch-exponent of a previously unnoticed intellectual tradition.