Bildungsroman

A Bildungsroman is a specific type of coming-of-age story that features the intellectual, ethical and spiritual growth of a young protagonist approaching maturity. Bildungsroman novels are thought to have originated in Germany, but the genre includes the stories of a diverse range of global eras and characters.

The history of the Bildungsroman genre

The original literary Bildungsroman novel is often considered to be Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Lehrjahre (Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship), published in four volumes between 1795–96. Bildungsromans cover coming-of-age stories that specifically deal with a young protagonist's spiritual growth and ethical character development.

The term 'Bildungsroman' was coined by another German philologist Karl Morgenstern in 1819. He created the term in response to criticism that he had become increasingly vain and self-important after reading too much about art and philosophy. He meant the term to more positively describe his progressive intellectual journey and his self-cultivation, similar to the character Wilhelm in Goethe’s novels.

Translated into English by Thomas Carlyle in 1824, various British writers, from Charles Dickens to Charlotte Bronte, read Goethe’s novel Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship. The idea of self-cultivation, a key theme in Goethe's work, was then widely developed in Bildungsroman novels by British authors during the 19th century.

Although Goethe is often credited with starting the genre, some critics have argued that the English version of the Bildungsroman genre dates back to women writers like Frances Burney, who wrote during the 18th century. Others have said that Jane Austen created the English version in the 19th century.

As is usual with all movements and genres, there are different and interesting points of view about when they started and who was involved. It is agreed that the literary genre spread quickly, with many famous English and German authors writing classical development novels during the 18th and 19th centuries. Since then, the genre's definition has expanded to cover a wide variety of growth journeys reflective of many different eras and global cultures.

Like the earliest folklore examples, 19th-century literary Bildrungsromans tended to end happily. More modern versions have a broader range of endings, from enlightenment to disillusionment and even death.

The meaning of the Bildungsroman as a literary genre

Although often used interchangeably with the term 'coming-of-age' to describe a certain type of novel, the genre of Bildungsroman is much more specific. The German word Bildungsroman means a 'novel of education or apprenticeship' or a 'novel of formation'. In the context of Goethe, the word stem 'bildung' translates more closely into ‘self-cultivation’. This word is the key to the Bildungsroman genre and is the reason it cannot be used as a synonym for just any coming-of-age novel.

The Bildungsroman is different as it relates to characters that undergo significant character development, particularly intellectual, moral, and psychological progress. As you can see, the Bildungsroman is a subgenre of the coming-of-age story.

Fig. 1 – Bildungsromans explore transformation and maturity of the naive protagnist.

The stages of the Bildungsroman

A typical Bildungsroman will follow four roughly defined stages that depict the protagonist's journey. These stages can be seen in old folklore stories, novels, movies, or series as more modern forms of the genre.

Cataclysmic event

Often the protagonist, still a child or teenager, will experience an important event that leads to a journey. This event could be a profound loss that significantly alters their lives.

Journey

Following the event, the protagonist goes on a journey, which may be literal or metaphorical. The journey represents the type of learning and development that usually leads to a better understanding of self and the external world.

Conflict and personal development

Along the way, the often rebellious protagonist will experience difficulties, make mistakes and navigate conflicts as they try to find their way within the imposed order of larger society.

Maturity

Finally, the protagonist may return home to help others reach maturity. In other examples, they may achieve a way to survive within the social order or reach a level of heightened intellectual, ethical and psychological existence. In the case of some more modern examples, they may die.

Bildungsroman: examples of novels and themes

The genre of Bildungsroman novels has become very broad and has many different examples. These are great ways to start to understand other cultures and times. Many of the most famous novels from the 19th century onward can be termed examples of Bildungsroman. It is worth looking at a few widely read novels in more detail.

Jane Eyre (1847) – Charlotte Brontë

Often seen as the quintessential 19th-century female Bildungsroman, the protagonist, Jane Eyre, is also the narrator. In Victorian-era novels, this was pretty uncommon. The story follows Jane’s journey from an abusive childhood as an orphan to a woman who is more able to decide on and define her place in society.

As a Victorian woman, Brontë portrays Jane as aware of the need to manage her self-cultivation. She uses language to redefine what constitutes failure or success in her own life. By representing Jane’s self-aware development through her narration, Brontë gave her the progressive agency to become the director of her own life. During the Victorian era, this was not usually considered possible for women.

Jane Eyre has been viewed as a conservative work as it ends in Jane’s marriage, but it is also possible to view the outcome as one that she freely chose rather than one that she was subjected to.

Themes in the Bildungsroman: Jane Eyre

• Love versus self-autonomy
• Self-cultivation
• Transformation
• Self-actualisation

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) – James Joyce

Like Jane Eyre, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man gave its protagonist, Stephen Dedalous, ownership of the point of view by using free indirect speech. This novel is technically a subgenre of Bildungsroman, called the Künstlerroman. These novels specifically deal with the personal and creative development of an artist.

Stephen, regarded as Joyce’s alter ego, experiences contradictory hedonism phases and all-encompassing religiosity. After a journey of extended artistic, intellectual and ethical learning, Stephen embraces Aestheticism as his place of artistic maturity.

Exceptionally, Morrison depicts two distinct journeys in Song of Solomon. A literal one and a more metaphorical, even metaphysical one. Milkman goes in search of gold. The real treasure that he gains is his development to a place of maturity and a more complex understanding of his present. This development happens primarily as a result of learning about his own history.

Themes in the Bildungsroman: Song of Solomon

• Healing and discovery

• Self-cultivation

• Transformation

• Self-actualisation