What is a bildungsroman?
A bildungsroman is a novel that follows a young person's growth from childhood or youth into adulthood, focusing on how their mind and character are formed. The word is German, from Bildung (formation or education) and Roman (novel), and the genre is usually traced to Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship of 1795-96. In English it is often simply called a coming-of-age novel.
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It is one of those words that sounds forbidding and describes something everyone has read. If you have followed a young character through school, first love, a bad decision and a slow understanding of who they are, you have read a bildungsroman.
Where the word comes from
According to Wikipedia's overview of the genre, the philologist Karl Morgenstern coined the term in his university lectures in 1819, and the philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey gave it wider currency later in the century. Bildung is a rich German word: it means education, but also formation, the shaping of a person as a whole. That is the point of the genre. School may feature, but the real education is the one life gives.
Where the form begins
The usual starting point is Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, published in 1795-96. Some scholars point instead to Christoph Martin Wieland's Geschichte des Agathon of 1767, but Goethe's novel is the one the genre is usually measured against.
What makes a novel a bildungsroman
Not every book with a young hero qualifies. The classic shape has a few recognisable features:
- A young protagonist, usually followed over years rather than weeks.
- A conflict with the world they start in: family, class, place or expectations.
- A departure, physical or emotional, from home.
- Mistakes that teach. Bad friendships, wrong loves and false starts are the curriculum.
- Growth towards some kind of maturity, even if it is bittersweet, partial or ironic.
The ending matters. In the traditional version, the hero finds a place in the world. Many modern versions refuse that comfort and leave the character older, wiser and still unsure.
Classic examples
The nineteenth century loved the form, especially in English. Some landmarks named in the Wikipedia overview:
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1847)
- David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1850)
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (1861)
- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (1916)
Italian literature has its own fine example in Elsa Morante's Arturo's Island, published in 1957 and winner of that year's Strega Prize. It follows a boy growing up on the island of Procida in the Bay of Naples, idolising an absent father, until the island of his childhood can no longer hold him. See our page on Arturo's Island.
Related forms
The genre has a few cousins, each with its own German name:
- Künstlerroman: the artist's novel, about the formation of a painter, writer or musician. Joyce's Portrait is the famous English example.
- Entwicklungsroman: a broader novel of development, about growth in general rather than self-cultivation.
- Erziehungsroman: the novel of education, focused on training and schooling.
You do not need the labels to enjoy the books, but they are handy when a reviewer throws one at you.
Why the form lasts
Coming of age is a story everyone has lived, so readers bring their own memories to it. The bildungsroman also gives a novelist a natural engine: a character who changes, and a reader who watches them change. It is why the form keeps returning in new places, from summer novels about one decisive season of childhood, such as I'm Not Scared, to big multi-volume lives.
FAQ
Is a bildungsroman the same as a young adult novel?
No. Young adult is a publishing category defined by its intended readers. A bildungsroman is a literary form defined by its subject. Many classic examples were written for adults, and many young adult books are not about growth over years.
Does the hero have to be a young man?
Not at all. Early examples often were, but Jane Eyre is one of the best-loved heroines of the form, and modern coming-of-age novels cover every kind of life.
Can a short book be a bildungsroman?
Yes, though the classic form covers years. A short novel focused on one summer can still be about a character's formation, even if it compresses the process.
How do you pronounce it?
Roughly "BIL-doongs-ro-mahn". Saying "coming-of-age novel" is perfectly respectable.
Sources
Written by the Zestasy editors. General information for curious adults, not medical, nutrition or training advice.