what is a bildungsroman?

You may not recognize the funny name, but if you've taken high school English or watched pretty much any blockbuster movie about teenagers, you've probably experienced a bildungsroman. The German word “Bildungsroman” means “formation novel.” Bildungsromane recount literal or figurative voyages of discovery, the final destination of which is a sense of one’s unique purpose. Typically a bildungsroman will involve a trial, a life-altering question, and sometimes a resolution.

Themes within the bildungsroman change with shifting social mores, but they all include at least a few of the following: a David-and-Goliath situation in which a child faces a monumental challenge, often without adult aid; a stepchild, orphan, or outcast; the sense that domestic or parental affection is not enough; the discovery that life is not easy or clear; doubt about one’s purpose or beliefs; and a quest for freedom, self-expression, and horizon-expanding love.

The horizon of the bildungsroman genre itself has expanded steadily since its beginnings in the eighteenth century. Click here to learn more about the literary history of the bildungsroman. For a list of literature and films in the genre, click here.

what is the bildungsroman project?

Despite the fact that it narrates the quest to find one's place in the world, as of January 2013 the bildungsroman had not found a place on the World Wide Web. When Dr. Katherine Carlson began drafting her syllabus for ENGL 145, a Literature in the Genres course at UNC-Chapel Hill, she found few online resources regarding the bildungsroman to share with her students. Less than a week before the semester began, she scrapped all her plans and decided the class would boldly create their own web resource to celebrate and explore this popular genre.

Inspired by the emerging field of digital humanities in general and The Victorian Web in particular, Dr. Carlson asked the class to generate submission guidelines for creative personal narratives, close readings of individual texts, and encyclopedic overviews of both the genre’s representative works and its cultural contexts. The students then signed up for topics and formulated selection committees to identify the most publishable work. The objectives of the project are as follows:

To discuss the history and development of a culturally significant genre
To occupy students – both the project’s writers and its readers – with questions relevant to their personal experience
To foster excellence in undergraduate research by targeting a real audience
To involve non-English majors in a group project that honors their diverse abilities
To utilize a wildly popular photography app, Instagram, to engage the genre’s intersection with two key elements of contemporary youth culture: visual expression and social media
To create a self-sustaining project that will continue welcoming submissions from writers both in Dr. Carlson’s future classes and from English speakers everywhere

Did you catch that? The Bildungsroman project is more then just a compilation of essays; it invites its readers to become writers. If you would like to submit writing or photography to the project, please click here to help us continue celebrating the art of growing up.

credits

unc-ch engl 145, spring 2013

Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Katherine L. Carlson
Graduate Research Consultant: Joe Fletcher
Copyeditors: Andrew Allen and Jenny Burton
Web Assistants: Michelle Nguyen and Laura Pressman
Outreach Coordinators: Hillary Bush, Jessica Carter, Rukayat Folarin, and Jean Skelton
Writers-At-Large: Andrew Allen, Elizabeth Bevels, Elizabeth Burchenal, Jenny Burton, Hillary Bush, Jessica Carter, Benjamin Coley, Alisa Dalbo, Dree Deacon, P.J. Eckerd, Hannah Eichner, Ashley Erskine, Rukayat Folarin, Ryan Marder, Tiesha Martin, Rana Mohamed, Dara Myers, Michelle Nguyen, Laura Pressman, Jake Price, Kuntal Shah, Jean Skelton

Special thanks to the UNC-CH Office for Undergraduate Research for funding the indispensable assistance of Graduate Research Consultant Joe Fletcher.

share your story

Collaboration and creativity are central to the Bildungsroman Project, and we welcome submissions from classes and individuals alike. If you would like to propose an article, memoir, or idea, please visit the "share your story" section.

get featured on instagram

Well. We've been too busy making the good news to share the good news. www.bildungsromanproject.com launched! Check out the fine articles and stories by an excellent group of scholars. Oh, and it is pretty too. :) || In other news, we have a winner for the third #bildungsromanproject contest -- @_tania420_. Here's what Rana had to say about Tania's lovely image: "I think this represents leaving the light of your comfort zone to enter a darker area or something that is totally foreign and different to you. That's how growing up is -- leaving what you know in order to be what you're meant to be." || Thanks to all who submitted. Feel free to keep using the hashtag; I'll continue to post features periodically over the summer. || My final bit of news is personal. I recently made the journey to my new job at Lee University in Cleveland, TN. In fact, the egregious delay of this post stems from the fact that I couldn't figure out which box or drawer contained Rana's caption. I plan to continue The Bildungsroman Project at Lee, though it may evolve a bit. I HOPE it will evolve a bit -- development and change was always key to my vision for the project. Thanks to all of you for supporting this from the very beginning. -@misspotterphd

Announcing the @bildungsromanproject's third contest! Tag photos that exemplify the theme of growing up to #bildungsromanproject by noon NYC time on Wednesday, April 24 for a chance to win a $20 iTunes gift card. Please also tell your friends about our account, created by @misspotterphd and her university literature students. Even when school is not in session, we'll be here featuring images that illustrate coming-of-age. Join us! Our website unveil is coming up in two weeks as well.

I am pleased to announce our grand prize winner: @littlecoal's "Letting Go." Jessica C. has an original take on it. She writes, "This picture embodies the essence of the bildungsroman. At some point one must come to terms with one's purpose in life. One must let go of all negativity and uncertainty, which is shown by the release of the balloons into the sunset. One must then prepare for a future of purpose, which is symbolized by the day that lies ahead." || I love how both Eric's image and Jessica's interpretation of it add nuance to the symbolism of balloons. We think of them as playful markers of joy, but of course they are also disposable and full of hot or thin air. Childhood's end does not have to signify a sad loss; rather, it can mark the choice to let go of things that, if carried past their time, can be as useless as deflated balloons. || Congratulations, Eric. Please email me at bildungsromanproject@gmail.com to claim your prize. || Thanks to all for reading and submitting. I'll post the runners up soon. In the mean time, don't forget to tag photos that exemplify growing up to #bildungsromanproject -- our next chance to win a $20 iTunes card will wrap up at noon NYC time on April 17. -@misspotterphd