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Genre

Bildungsroman

BIL-dungs-roh-mahn
Also Known As novel of formation · coming-of-age novel
The Novel and Its Forms

The Bildungsroman, German for novel of formation, traces a protagonist's psychological, moral and social maturation from childhood or adolescence into adulthood through experience, education and self-discovery. The term was coined by the philologist Karl Morgenstern in lectures at the University of Dorpat in 1819, who named Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795 to 1796) as its archetype. As a genre family within the novel, it recurs across national literatures, adapting its arc of formation to different social settings from Goethe's German original through English, French and postcolonial variants.

Facts
Place of Origin
Germany, with its birth normally dated to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795-96), sometimes to Christoph Martin Wieland's Geschichte des Agathon (1767); the term itself was coined in 1819 by philologist Johann Karl Simon Morgenstern. 1
Notable Example
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1795-96), traditionally dated as the genre's birth. 1
Defining Trait
A literary genre focused on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood, a coming-of-age narrative. 1
Connections

Encompasses Form

Kunstlerroman, Genres

Features Author

Great Expectations, Works
Source Great Expectations (Wikipedia)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Authors

Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795-96) is the work scholarship treats as the genre's defining case; Karl Morgenstern coined the term Bildungsroman in 1819 with Goethe's novel as the model.

Source The Norton Anthology of World Literature
Pere Goriot, Works
Source Pere Goriot (Wikipedia)
The Catcher in the Rye, Works
Source The Catcher in the Rye (Wikipedia)
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Works
Source Their Eyes Were Watching God (Wikipedia)
To Kill a Mockingbird, Works
Source To Kill a Mockingbird (Wikipedia)
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, Works

The genre's defining case.

Source The Norton Anthology of World Literature
In the Other Atlases
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Germany, originated there.
Sources
1. Bildungsroman (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Introduction
    The birth of the bildungsroman is normally dated to the publication of Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1795-96
  • Lead section
    a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age)
  • Origin section
    The birth of the bildungsroman is normally dated to the publication of Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1795-96, or sometimes to Christoph Martin Wieland's Geschichte des Agathon of 1767. Although the bildungsroman arose in Germany, it has had extensive influence first in Europe and later throughout the world.
View the Source
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.s.v. BildungsromanView the Source
The Norton Anthology of World Literature
W. W. Norton & Company
  • Features Author: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  • Features Author: Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
The Catcher in the Rye (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: The Catcher in the Rye, Lead section, genre
Quote, Features Author: The Catcher in the Rye, Lead section, genre
The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 American coming-of-age novel by American author J. D. Salinger
View the Source
To Kill a Mockingbird (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: To Kill a Mockingbird, Lead section, genre
Quote, Features Author: To Kill a Mockingbird, Lead section, genre
As a Southern Gothic novel and Bildungsroman
View the Source
Great Expectations (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Great Expectations, Lead section, genre
Quote, Features Author: Great Expectations, Lead section, genre
a bildungsroman
View the Source
Their Eyes Were Watching God (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Their Eyes Were Watching God, Infobox, Genre field
Quote, Features Author: Their Eyes Were Watching God, Infobox, Genre field
Novel, psychological fiction, bildungsroman
View the Source
Pere Goriot (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Pere Goriot, Genre and style section
Quote, Features Author: Pere Goriot, Genre and style section
a bildungsroman, wherein a naive young person matures while learning the ways of the world
View the Source
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