bildungsroman

bil·dungs·ro·man

noun \ˈbil-du̇ŋ(k)s-rō-ˌmän, -du̇ŋz-\

Definition of BILDUNGSROMAN

: a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character

Origin of BILDUNGSROMAN

German, from Bildung education + Roman novel

First Known Use: 1910

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

Rhymes with BILDUNGSROMAN

abutilon, Agamemnon, anticodon, antiproton, archenteron, arrière-ban, asyndeton, automaton, Azerbaijan, Bellerophon, carrying-on, diazinon, dodecagon, emoticon, encephalon, get a move on, himation, interferon, kakiemon, keep an eye on, Laocoön, mesenteron, Michoacán, millimicron, oxymoron, phenomenon, protozoon, pteranodon, put the arm on, put the make on, rear echelon, Rostov-on-Don, Saskatchewan, septentrion, set one's heart on, set one's sights on, sine qua non, steal a march on, take it out on, Taklimakan, turn one's back on, Vientiane, wipe one's boots on, zero coupon, zooplankton

bildungsroman

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Class of novel derived from German literature that deals with the formative years of the main character, whose moral and psychological development is depicted. It typically ends on a positive note, with the hero's foolish mistakes and painful disappointments behind him and a life of usefulness ahead. It grew out of folklore tales in which a dunce goes out into the world seeking adventure. One of the earliest novelistic developments of the theme, Johann W. von Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795–96), remains a classic example.