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Bildungsroman Meaning Years Main Character's Psychological Moral July

A Bildungsroman is a novel detailing the moral and psychological development of a protagonist during their formative years. It is a German term combining 'education' and 'novel.'

A Bildungsroman is a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character during their formative years. The term is German, combining 'Bildung' (education) and 'Roman' (novel).

Word bildungsroman
Date July 27, 2019
Type noun
Syllables BIL-doonks-roh-mahn
Etymology Bildungsroman is the combination of two German words: Bildung, meaning "education," and Roman, meaning "novel." Fittingly, a bildungsroman is a novel that deals with the formative years of the main character, and in particular, with the character's psychological development and moral education. The bildungsroman usually ends on a positive note, with the hero's foolish mistakes and painful disappointments over, and a life of usefulness ahead. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's late 18th-century work Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship) is often cited as the classic example of a bildungsroman. Though the term is primarily applied to novels, in recent years some English speakers have begun to apply it to films that deal with a youthful character's coming-of-age.
Examples "It's a thoroughly contemporary bildungsroman in which the protagonist is the Vietnamese-born son of an illiterate and violence-prone single mother. He's living in the United States with her and his schizophrenic grandmother when he comes to terms with the alternating harshness and warmth of his family…." — Leigh Haber, Oprah Magazine, 3 June 2019

"In its way, this is a very novelistic film, with the accretion of detail you might expect from a Bildungsroman.… We see what Cleo sees, we wonder what and how she feels, we build up our investment of sympathy with her, and it all leads to a heartrending payoff." — Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian (London), 13 Feb. 2019
Definition : a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character

Tags: wordoftheday::noun

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