Bildungsroman is a popular genre of literature that focuses on the social and psychological maturity of its protagonist. It is popularly known today as a coming-of-age story, but the name derives from the German word bildungs which means formation and roman which means novel. A bildungsroman novel typically follows a young character from innocence to self-awareness and emotional development. Although many of these books follow a basic template, there can be much individuation. The framework usually begins with the introduction of a smart and emotionally sensitive young person at home who then exits into the world where he or she faces conflicts and tests of character before discovering a proper place in the larger scheme of things. Very often this character must journey back to the home to prove his worth by showing he was capable of maturity. Other novels end more tragically with the death of the hero, sometimes even before he is able fulfill his great promise.
Where the variation enters the picture is within this foundational structure. Bildungsroman novels might well be said to focus on the issue of the education of the protagonist, but that isn’t meant to imply traditional schooling. Life is the university to which a character in this type of story enrolls and life-lessons are the curricula. That means the main character may learn about a trade or craft, but will also learn about social issues, relational elements and, usually, the darkly sinister world of business and financial obligations. In keeping with the theme of education, it is very rare for a protagonist in a bildungsroman novel to be unintelligent. He may be naïve and uninformed, but he will almost certainly have a sharp mind, and usually a definite ability. The journey toward maturation usually involves the education related to mastering this ability and then putting it to proper use. The maturation experience does not end with this understanding, however, for it also requires learning about identity and purpose. By the end, most protagonists will come to view himself as well as others from a more sophisticated and worldly perspective that comes with piecing together his own psychological construction, as well as coming to a greater understanding of the multitudinous complexities of adulthood.
Life as an institution of learning is symbolically compared to the typical progression through the educational system in that a bildungsroman novel normally begins with hero leaving his home that is situated in a simple rural setting and entering into the hustle and bustle of an urban setting. This can be viewed as the progression from simple elementary school upward through high school and into college. As the novel progresses, the characters become more complex, the conflicts become more threatening and, eventually, sexuality enters the picture. The move from home represents the break with childhood and parental influence and the odyssey toward more multifaceted emotional entanglements. Very often the main character is presented with a variety of potential romantic partners and must achieve the maturity to know which is best suited to help him achieve his goal.
A bildungsroman is literally and figuratively a novel about the development of the self. The protagonist must work his way through a confusing maze that offers alternative choices at every turn; it is part of the theme that he must gradually achieve maturity as a result of having made bad choices, but learning from them. Until the postmodern era of this kind of novel, the world that was portrayed in them generally was assumed to be filled with universal truths. Before Modernism, that typically meant achieving and accepting the ideal of middle class virtues. Modernism exploded that and introduced the rejection of those very same values. Postmodern bildungsroman tend to reject the possibility that is an either/or choice of embracing or rejecting traditional values.
