An unwritten manifesto for the seventies: idealism and imagination in 'De Revisor'

In 1970 four Dutch authors published a Manifesto for the Seventies, in which they reacted against the so-called 'affected upper-class literature' in the Netherlands (e.g. Raster). They devoted themselves to clearing the way for 'truly innovative' debutants and winning back 'lost readers' by writing 'readable texts'. There was a temporary growth in realistic and mimetic prose following on the Manifesto. In 1974 the literary periodical De Revisor was published for the first time. In their preface, the editors stated explicitly that they would refuse to shelter anyone who subscribed to the Manifesto and in fact expressed no desire at all to be 'truly innovative'. Nonetheless, with De Revisor a significant evolution towards idealism and imagination was initiated. A new era was heralded in, that of mainstream postmodernism. The real Manifesto for the Seventies turned out to be an unwritten one in De Revisor