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Coming-of-age novel

Coming-of-age novel is a term used about novels that focus on a young character's development. Sometimes the term is used interchangeably with the German term Bildungsroman.

A coming-of-age novel tells about the growing up or coming of age of a sensitive person who is looking for answers and experience. The genre evolved from folklore tales of a dunce or youngest son going out in the world to seek his fortune. Usually in the beginning of the story there is an emotional loss which makes the protagonist leave on his journey. In a Coming-of-age novel, the goal is maturity, and the protagonist achieves it gradually and with difficulty. The genre often features a main conflict between the main character and society. Typically, the values of society are gradually accepted by the protagonist and he is ultimately accepted into society – the protagonist's mistakes and disappointments are over. In some works, the protagonist is able to reach out and help others after having achieved maturity.

Features

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The plot of a coming-of-age novel tends to follow a certain course. At an early stage, a loss or some sort of discontent pushes him or her away from home or the family setting, providing an impetus to embark on a journey. The main character often develops through "self actualization". The process of maturation is long, strenuous and gradual, involving repeated clashes between the protagonist's needs and desires and the views and judgments enforced by an unbending social order.

There are many other similar genres that focus on the growth of an individual. An Entwicklungsroman ("development novel") is a story of general growth rather than self-cultivation. An Erziehungsroman ("education novel") focuses on training and formal schooling, while a Künstlerroman ("artist novel") is about the development of an artist and shows a growth of the self.


Selected examples

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This is an incomplete chronological list of novels that are concidered coming-of-age novels by at least some people.


References

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  1. ^ Joy Palmer, Liora Bresler, David Edward Cooper (2001). Fifty major thinkers on education: from Confucius to Dewey. Routledge. p. 34. ISBN 0415231264.
  2. ^ http://fajardo-acosta.com/worldlit/voltaire/candide.htm
  3. ^ http://www.enotes.com/nineteenth-century-criticism/bildungsroman-nineteenth-century-literature
  4. ^ http://www.enotes.com/martin-eden-salem/martin-eden-11000305
  5. ^ Geoffrey Nash, "Ameen Rihani's The Book of Khalid and the Voice of Thomas Carlyle," New Comparison Journal, no. 17, The British Comparative Literature Association, University of Essex, Colchester, U.K., 1994.
  6. ^ http://www.enotes.com/sons-lovers/lawrences-novel-bildungsroman
  7. ^ Hendriksen, Jack; This side of paradise as a Bildungsroman; isbn: 0820418528
  8. ^ Sparknotes:Catcher in the Rye:Themes
  9. ^ eNotes: Go Tell it on the Mountain, James Baldwin
  10. ^ Kercheval, Jesse Lee. "Continuing Conflict". Building Fiction. The Story Press. p. 101. ISBN 1884910289.
  11. ^ Sparknotes:Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit: Context
  12. ^ Sparknotes:Secret Life of Bees-Character Analysis

14. http://www.gcms.k12.il.us/gcmsel/lynnet/literary_genres.htm

15. http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/genres.html

16. http://www.theisticevolution.org/lit_genre.html

Literature

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  • Abrams, M. H. (2005). Glossary of Literary Terms (8th ed.). Boston: Thomson Wadsworth. ISBN 1413002188. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Engel, Manfred (2008): "Variants of the Romantic 'Bildungsroman' (with a Short Note on the 'Artist Novel')". In: Gerald Gillespie, Manfred Engel and Bernard Dieterle (eds.), Romantic Prose Fiction (= A Comparative History of Literatures in European Languages, vol. XXIII; ed. by the International Comparative Literature Association). Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins, pp. 263–295. ISBN 978-9027234568.
  • Jeffers, Thomas L. (2005). Apprenticeships: The Bildungsroman from Goethe to Santayana. New York: Palgrave. ISBN 1403966079. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Minden, Michael (1997): The German Bildungsroman: Incest and Inheritance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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