Literary Movements- Bildungsroman

Bildungsroman is the name affixed to those novels
that concentrate on the development or education
of a central character. German in origin,
‘‘bildungs’’ means formation, and ‘‘roman’’
means novel. Although The History of Agathon,
written by Christoph Martin Wieland in 1766–
1767, may be the first known example, it was
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s
Apprenticeship, written in 1795, that took
the form from philosophical to personal development
and gave celebrity to the genre.
More than any other type of novel, the Bildungsroman
intends to lead the reader to greater
personal enrichment as the protagonist journeys
from youth to psychological or emotional maturity.
Traditionally, this growth occurs according to
a pattern: the sensitive, intelligent protagonist
leaves home, undergoes stages of conflict and
growth, is tested by crises and love affairs, then
finally finds the best place to use his/her unique
talents. Sometimes the protagonist returns home
to show how well things turned out. Some Bildungsromans
end with the death of the hero,
leaving the promise of his life unfulfilled. Traditionally,
English novelists complicate the protagonist’s
battle to establish an individual identity
with conflicts from outside the self. German novelists
typically concentrate on the internal struggle
of the hero. The protagonist’s adventures can
be seen as a quest for the meaning of life or as a
vehicle for the author’s social and moral opinions
as demonstrated through the protagonist.
The Bildungsroman was especially popular
until 1860. Its German affiliation, however, caused
anti-German sentiment during the world wars to
contribute to the demise of its influence, along
with the emergence of a multitude of modern
experiments in novel writing. Nonetheless, James
Joyce wrote his Bildungsroman, A Portrait of an
Artist as a Young Man, in 1916, and the genre has
continued to be adopted, with distinguishing variations,

by writers of many nationalities.