Is there a term for fiction authors whose writing style is technically the most important feature of their books?

Question

I'm re-reading "Lolita" by **Vladimir Nabokov** right now, and I must say, the author is very consistent in never allowing himself merely to narrate: each paragraph, if not each sentence, is loaded with metaphors, allusions, elegant turns of phrase, humorous word-play, twisted and sprained shades of meaning, and so forth. A very different author, **William Faulkner**, uses different words, different imagery, different everything, except the method: each paragraph, if not each sentence, is unmistakably Faulkner's, and all of them are packed with Faulkner's signature twists and turns. There are a few others, including **Joyce**, whom I dislike intensely, but he, too, is one of ... Well, that, actually, is the question. Is there a term for authors of that sort? I mean, "stylists" is what comes to mind first, except that in today's cultural climate, the word would sooner invoke images of the bright lights in a Manhattan beauty salon than those of a patient storyteller burning the midnight oil. Clearly there is, or was, an entire *movement*, before and after World War II. There was a whole *category* of these people. Similar to, say, the **Lake Poets**. Is there an official term?

Answer 1

Hi,

You have the time period a little off. I was surrounding WW1. The movement is modernism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernism

Also, you referring to style or voice for authors. It is essentially the craft of writing. Often people refer to the elements as different words and group them different ways. But Diction, Detail, Imagery, Syntax, Tone, Pacing, Theme, Motif and Use of Figurative Language covers about 95% of writing choices.

Your two questions unpack to a tremendous amount of information. Hemmingway was part of the post-war golden age but is probably not a modernist, neither was Fitzgerald. Simply analyzing the differences in the styles of these two authors would be enough for several papers. Hemmingway was concise but sparing of detail, and Fitzgerald was concise yet lush in detail.

Best,

Doug