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Bildungsroman Novel


 

Bildungsroman is a genre in which the plot revolves around the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to maturity. It is also known as the novel of education or the novel of formation, and is a type of the coming-of-age story. Coined by the philologist Karl Morgenstern in 1819, the German term 'Bildungsroman' literally translates as 'formation novel'.

Features of a Bildungsroman

The Bildungsroman narrates the story of the development of a sensitive person who goes in search of the meaning of life and of her/his place in society.

A Bildungsroman generally begins with an emotional loss which compels the protagonist to set off on her/his journey.

The protagonist faces several hurdles and failures along the way, and is often shown in conflict with the values of society.

Eventually, and very gradually, the protagonist transforms from an inexperienced person to an emotionally mature individual.

In the end, the protagonist accepts the values of society and is accepted into society.

This genre could be said to have evolved from folk tales in which a simple young man goes out into the world to seek his fortune. As a literary genre, the Bildungsroman came into being with the publication of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795-96). This German novel had a great impact upon Europe and the rest of the world, and Goethe's translated work inspired several authors who began to write novels that traced the evolution of the protagonist. Examples of this genre are Tom Jones (1749) by Henry Fielding, Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Brontë, Great Expectations (1861) by Charles Dickens, The Catcher in the Rye (1951) by J.D. Salinger, and The Kite Runner (2003) by Khaled Hosseini.

A variation of the Bildungsroman is the Künstlerroman (German for 'artist's novel') which traces the development of an artist or a writer. Charles Dickens's David Copperfield (1850),  James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young and
D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers (1913) are examples of this subgenre. 



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