In literature, a bildungsroman is a type of story that follows the personal growth and development of the main character from childhood to adulthood. The word comes from German, where "Bildung" means "education" or "growth" and "Roman" means "novel." This genre focuses on how the character learns about life, makes decisions, and changes over time.

Origin

The term was first used in 1819 by a language expert named Johann Karl Simon Morgenstern during his university classes. Later, Wilhelm Dilthey helped make the term more widely accepted in 1870 and made it popular in 1905. This type of story has certain formal, topic-related, and theme-related features. The phrase "coming-of-age novel" is sometimes used the same way as "bildungsroman," but it is usually used more broadly and less specifically.

The beginning of the bildungsroman is often linked to the publication of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship between 1795 and 1796. Some also say it started with Christoph Martin Wieland's The Story of Agathon in 1767. Though the bildungsroman originated in Germany, it later influenced writers across Europe and the world. Thomas Carlyle's English translation of Goethe's novel in 1824 and his own book Sartor Resartus (1833–34), the first English bildungsroman, inspired many British writers. In the 20th century, the genre spread to France and other countries globally.

Barbara Whitman suggested that the Iliad might be the first bildungsroman. It is not only about the Trojan War; the war serves as the setting for Achilles' personal growth. At the start, Achilles is a young person who acts impulsively, making choices that harm himself and others. The story ends when Achilles becomes mature and allows King Priam to retrieve Hector's body.

This genre can be easily adapted into films, known as coming-of-age films.

Plot outline

A bildungsroman is a story about a young, innocent person who searches for answers to life's questions, hoping to gain experience and understanding of the world. This genre began with folktales about a foolish or youngest child who leaves home to find their fortune. Often, the story starts with an emotional loss that causes the main character to begin their journey. In a bildungsroman, the goal is for the character to become mature, which happens slowly and with challenges. The story usually shows a struggle between the main character and society. Over time, the character learns to accept society's values and is eventually accepted into it, with their past mistakes and disappointments behind them. In some stories, the character helps others after reaching maturity.

Franco Moretti says the main conflict in a bildungsroman is the idea that modern life values youth and progress too much, which conflicts with the idea of happiness and peace found in the endings of works like Goethe's Wilhelm Meister and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

There are many types of bildungsroman. An Entwicklungsroman is a story about general growth, not just personal development. An Erziehungsroman focuses on learning and education, while a Künstlerroman follows the growth of an artist. Some memoirs and journals, like The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac or The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto "Che" Guevara, are considered bildungsroman even though they claim to be factual. The term is also used more loosely to describe coming-of-age films and similar works in other genres.