A Bildungsroman (/, German: "novel of self-cultivation") is a novel variation of the monomyth that concentrates on the spiritual, moral, psychological, or social development and growth of the protagonist usually from childhood to maturity. These themes are now often portrayed in films and animation as well as novels.
Bildungsromans usually contain the following course:
Within the genre, an Entwicklungsroman is a story of general growth rather than self-culture; an Erziehungsroman focuses on training and formal education; and a Künstlerroman is about the development of an artist and shows a growth of the self.
Many other genres, separate from the Bildungsroman genre, can include elements of the Bildungsroman as a prominent part of their story lines, while not being Bildungsromans in themselves: For example, a military story frequently shows a raw recruit receiving a baptism of fire and becoming a battle-hardened soldier. A high fantasy quest may also show a transformation from an...
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