What is a Bildungsroman?
 DEFINITION: a novel about the moral and
psychological growth of the main
character
 Bildungsroman is the combination of two
German words:
Bildung, meaning "education,"
and Roman, meaning "novel."
“Bildungsroman" is a novel that …
 deals with the formative years of the main
character - in particular, his or her psychological
development and moral education.
 Usually follows the protagonist from youth to
adulthood.
 usually ends on a positive note with the hero's
foolish mistakes and painful disappointments over
and a life of usefulness ahead.
There are many types of
Bildungsroman stories…
 An Entwicklungsroman ("development novel") is a
story of general growth rather than self-cultivation.
 An Erziehungsroman ("education novel") focuses
on training and formal schooling
 A Künstlerroman ("artist novel") is about the
development of an artist and shows a growth of the
self.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bpdzkPn5rc&feature=youtu.be
Watching the character grow.
Sometimes, the reader literally follows the
protagonist from childhood to adulthood.
Other times, the reader
follows the protagonist
from child like
thoughts/feelings to
more mature
understandings of the
world around him/her
Though the term is primarily applied to novels, in recent years,
the term has begun to be applied to films that deal with a
youthful character's coming-of-age.
ACTIVITY:
list as many coming-of-age style movies in 2 minutes.
The Stages of a Bildungsroman
Stage 1: The Call
 “The Call” in a Bildungsroman novel spurs the
character on their journey towards spiritual or
psychological growth. The character is often unhappy
with something in their current life, and it pushes
them to search for answers to their unhappiness
elsewhere in the world.
 The protagonist experiences an event that sets him/
her on a journey This experience is usually a tragic
loss or sense of unhappiness causes the character to
leave his/her home or family.
Stage 1: The Call
1.]
The protagonist is usually from a small town or
village, and they journey to a more complex realm,
or to a large city.
2.]
The protagonist must separate from their
family in order to gain an identity that is separate
and distinct.
3.]
The protagonist searches for answers to gain
an identity of their own.
Stage 2: The Apprenticeship
 The Apprenticeship is the growth process
that the character goes through in order
to reach maturity and moral change.
 This stage is called the Apprenticeship
because the character must undertake an
education away from their origins in
order to learn and to master his or her
place in society.
Stage 2: The Apprenticeship
4.]
Education is crucial to the protagonist’s
progress into maturity.
5.]
The protagonist is often disappointed by this
new world, as it does not live up to their
expectations.
6.]
The protagonist finds their education in the
disappointment of the new world, and this allows
them to successfully mature and gain their distinct
identity.
Stage 3: Maturity
 Maturity is not easily won; it is a long and
arduous process, with many mistakes,
tests, and internal obstacles that the
character must face in order to finally gain
maturity.
 They walk away with a newfound sense of
themselves, and they know they are
different people now.
Stage 3: Maturity
7.] The protagonist achieves their maturity with
difficulty, and it allows them a sense of pride in having
obtained it through the tests and obstacles they’ve had
to face.
8.] The protagonist experiences psychological,
moral, and/or spiritual growth.
9.] The protagonist and the readers accept that they
are not a superior character: they are flawed, but they
are fundamentally good.
Stage 4: Acceptance
and Remedy
 In this stage, the character typically will
return to their place of origins, and they
will use their newfound knowledge to help
others.
 In some cases, the character will not return
home, but they will reach out and try to
remedy a situation or a problem using
the wisdom they’ve gained on their
journey.
Stage 4: Acceptance
and Remedy
10.]
The protagonist usually returns to the place
they left originally.
11.]
The reader is able to see the contrast between
the protagonist at the beginning of the novel and the
person they’ve become once they return to the place
they left.
12.]
The protagonist is able to help others with
their newfound maturity and wisdom.
1. The Call
• The protagonist experiences an event that sets him/ her on a journey
• This experience is usually a tragic loss or sense of unhappiness causes the
character to leave his/her home or family.
2. The Apprenticeship
• The character is almost always stuck in an “unbending social order”
where society has strict rules that one is supposed to follow
3. Maturity
• A majority of the character’s conflicts result from this social order, where
the character struggles between his/her personal needs and “the
judgments enforced by this unbending social order.”
4. Acceptance and Remedy
• Eventually, the character learns how to fully enter society. The novel ends
with the character evaluating himself/herself and his/her new place in
society
• This includes a deeper understanding of the human condition, and
consequently, a realistic sense of personal humility and compassion for
others.
A kid in a new town, learning the
social hierarchies and how to play
his favorite sport – it’s something
that most of us know from one side
of this story or the other.
The Sandlot is about young
friendships, the competitive nature
of being friends within a small
group, the mythologies that we
build as children, and how many of
our assumptions change as we
learn adult truths and troubling
lessons. Sometimes life gets richer,
more interesting, and much better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=-QDq-e1GbjE
Epiphany
An epiphany is a sudden realization of
the essence or meaning of something.
It is the awakening of a dormant
feeling as a character suddenly sees in
a different light, a knowledge they
should have been aware of before. It is
an experience which allows a deeper
understanding of a situation.
Catharsis
The word Catharsis literally means
purification, to purify or clensing, to
clean.
It is a sudden breakdown, release of
overwhelming feelings of great pity,
sorrow, laughter, or any extreme
change in emotion that results in
renewal, restoration, or revitalization
for the character.
Metamorphosis
A metamorphosis is a change or
transformation in appearance,
character or condition. Change can be
spiritual or physical.
This change can alter other’s views of
a character and one;s view of oneself.
A transformation can be for better or
worse, but it is, nonetheless, a
dynamic change.