English Literature / Unit 2 ENL 0128 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Bildungsroman
Captions available
The idea
A bildungsroman follows the psychological and moral growth of its protagonist from childhood to adulthood. The German term, from Bildung, formation, and Roman, novel, was coined in eighteen nineteen. The form recurs in English fiction from the nineteenth century to the modernists.
In practice
A novel of formation.
Where people slip
This definition rests on one reference source.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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