Content introduction

CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter I.

1. 
   The significant features of the English literature
   
2. 
   The Bildungsroman genre as the popular genre in literature
   
3. 
   Analysis of unique features of Bildungsroman genre in British literature
   

Сonclusion
The List of used literature

Introduction
Bildungsroman is a type of novel which is a ‘novel of formation’ or a ‘novel of education’. It focuses on the development of the mind and character of the young protagonist from childhood to adulthood. The genre is first introduced by Karl Mongstern in the nineteenth century and was popularized by Wilhelm Dilthey in the twentieth century. It is a German term, Bildung means ‘formation’ and Roman means ‘novel’. Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister (1976) was first categorized under this genre. The genre focuses on the all-round development of the protagonist. Many novelists of the Victorian period wrote under the traits of this genre. Tom Sawyer, David Copperfield, Jane Eyre and Great Expectations are classical examples of this genre.
The novel has a strong tradition in English literature. In Great Britain, it can trace its roots back to Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe in 1719 (Kroll 23). Since then, the British novel has grown in popularity. It was especially popular in Victorian England. The type of novel that was particularly popular in Victorian England was the novel of youth. Many authors of the time were producing works focused on the journey from childhood to adulthood: Charlotte Bronte wrote Jane Eyre, George Eliot wrote The Mill on the Floss, and Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield and Great Expectations. All of these novels trace the growth of a child. In this respect, some of the most popular novels of the nineteenth century were part of the genre called the Bildungsroman.
At the outset of early 18th century many writers started writing long narratives in prose form. The modern form of the novel got development initially in England with famous writers like Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, and Henry Fielding. Most of their novels were episodic and plot driven stories such as Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Moll Flanders (1722) of Defoe; Pamela (1740) of Richardson and Henry Fielding‟s famous novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1747) were all in England. In other countries like Germany, America some writers attempted to write bildungsroman, for instance Wieland‟s The History of Agathon (1766-67), Goethe‟s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship (1795) in Germany. In America, the classics in this genre like Mark Twain‟s Huckleberry Finn, Salinger‟s The Catcher in the Rye are often considered as representative novels of this kind.
The basic formula of the Bildugsroman is universal and especially appropriate to the growing world of the Victorian age where the kind of opportunities presented to the hero of the Bildungsroman echoed the actual experiences of those growing up in that era.
I the simplest sense of the word, a Bildungsroman is a novel of the development of a young man (or in some cases a young woman). In fact, the Webster's College Dictionary definition of Bildungsroman is "a novel dealing with the education and development of its protagonist". The Bildungsroman as a genre has its roots in Germany. Jerome Buckley notes that the word itself is German, with “Bildung" having a variety of connotations: "portrait," "picture," "shaping" and "formation," all of which give the sense of development or creation “the development of the child can also be seen as the creation of the man" (13-14). "Roman” simply means "novel."
The term Bildugsroman emerged as a description of Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. This was the first Bildungsroman, having been published between 1794 and 1796 (Buckley 9). The word "lehrjahre" can be translated as "apprenticeship". ="Apprenticeship" has many connotations, most of which deal with education and work. An apprentice goes to work for an experienced worker and learns and develops his trade and also to a greater extent his identity. Similarly, the Bildungsroman is characterized by the growth, education, and development of a character both in the world and ultimately within himself.
The Bildugsroman is subcategorized into very specific types of the genre, most often found in German literature. There is the Entwicklungsroman, which can be defined as "a chronicle of a young man's general growth rather than his specific quest for self-culture". In other words, a story recounting a man's life rather than focusing on the inner changes that contribute to his maturity. Another form within German literature is the Erziehungsroman; this form is primarily concerned with the protagonist's actual educational process.
The root Kustler translates as artist in English. Therefore, this is the development of the artist from childhood until his artistic maturity, focusing on the man as artist rather than the man in general. Dickens' David Copperfield and James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man are both examples of the English Kunstlerroman, as the protagonists of both books are writers.
Accordig to Buckley in his book Seasons of Youth, the Bildungsroman in English literature is "in its broadest sense ... a convenient synonym for the novel of youth or apprenticeship".
The English Bildungsroman vary from novel to novel. However, they have many aspects in common, all of which are important to the development of the protagonist.