Entwicklungsroman
A development novel (German: Entwicklungsroman) is a novel in which the spiritual-emotional development of a main character is depicted in his confrontation with himself and with the environment. Central to this is a "fictional-biographical narrative" that, depending on the subgenre, may aim either at the harmonious resolution of (identity) conflicts, the disillusionment of the naïve protagonist, or the illustration of pedagogical concepts.
Origin
According to Gero von Wilpert, the concept of the development novel arose from the "recognition of a human development taking place" and the resulting need for the literary representation of such a development.[1] Since such a need for representation could only arise from a scientific worldview, Wilpert rules out earlier texts such as Parzival (early 13th century) or Der Abentheurliche Simplicissimus Teutsch (1668) as precursors of the development novel and locates the genre's origins in the Pietist concept of "soul-searching."[1]
This approach, however, is controversial, as Ruth Sassenhausen argues in her dissertation on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival as a development novel.[2] Ivo Braak, too, sees Pietism as only one of three determining influences for the German-language developmental novel, the others being, for him, the English novel of the early eighteenth century and the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.[3]
Whether the Bildungsroman should be considered an independent, related genre or a subgenre of the Entwicklungsroman is a matter of debate.[1] For example, Jürgen C. Jacobs distinguishes between the Bildungsroman, the Desillusionsroman, and the Erziehungsroman as the three essential subgenres of the Entwicklungsroman,[4] while Ivo Braak contrasts the Bildungsroman with the psychological novel as a further subgenre of the Entwicklungsroman.[3]
Ivo Braak illustrates his distinction between Bildungsroman and psychological novel with two works by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, each representing one of the two subgenres: The Sorrows of Young Werther, according to Braak, is a psychological novel, while Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship is to be understood as a Bildungsroman.[3] The Entwicklungsroman has been considered a subgenre of the Bildungsroman as well.
During the German Democratic Republic period, the critic Marc Silberman categorized GDR novels politically. He made a distinction between the bourgeois Bildungsroman and the socialist Entwicklungsroman.[5]
Examples
According to Gero von Wilpert, the German-language development novel is a tradition that began with Christoph Martin Wieland's Geschichte des Agathon (1766–1767) and culminated in Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795–1796) by Goethe, as this text influenced the entire later history of the genre.[1] Wilpert also cites Anton Reiser by Karl Philipp Moritz as a development novel typical of the kind.[1]
Wilhelm Raabe's Alte Nester (1879), Ernst Wiechert's Die kleine Passion (1929), Journey to the East (1932) by Hermann Hesse and Walter von Molo's Der kleine Held (1934), are also notable examples of the novel of development, while The Tin Drum (1959) by Günter Grass, is a parody of the Entwicklungsroman.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Wilpert, Gero von (2001). "Entwicklungsroman". In: Sachwörterbuch der Literatur. 8. Stuttgart: Kröner, p. 215.
- ↑ Sassenhausen, Ruth (2007). Wolframs von Eschenbach "Parzival" als Entwicklungsroman. Gattungstheoretischer Ansatz und literaturpsychologische Deutung. Köln: Böhlau Verlag.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Braak, Ivo (2007). "Entwicklungsroman". In: Poetik in Stichworten. Literaturwissenschaftliche Grundbegriffe, eine Einführung. Berlin/Stuttgart: Gebrüder Borntraeger, p. 250.
- ↑ Jacobs, Jürgen C. (2009). "Bildungsroman". In: Dieter Lamping, ed., Handbuch der literarischen Gattungen. Stuttgart: Kröner, p. 56.
- ↑ Silberman, Marc (1976). Literature of the Working World: A Study of the Industrial Novel in East Germany. Bern: Lang.
References
- Esselborn-Krumbiegel, Helga (1983). Der „Held“ im Roman. Formen des deutschen Entwicklungsromans im frühen 20. Jahrhundert. Dissertation. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
- Gerhard, Melitta (1926). Der deutsche entwicklungsroman bis zu Goethes "Wilhelm Meister". Halle: Niemeyer.
- Hillmann, Heinz; Peter Hühn (2001). Der Entwicklungsroman in Europa und Übersee. Literarische Lebensentwürfe der Neuzeit. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
- Köhn, Lothar (1969). Entwicklungs- und Bildungsroman. Ein Forschungsbericht. Stuttgart: Metzler.
- Rich, Doris E. (1940). Der deutsche Entwicklungsroman am Ende der burgerlichen Kultur, 1892-1924. Radcliffe College.
- Tiefenbacher, Herbert (1982). Textstrukturen des Entwicklungs-und Bildungsromans: zur Handlungs-und Erzählstruktur ausgewählter Romane zwischen Naturalismus und Erstem Weltkrieg. Königstein im Taunus: Forum Academicum in der Verlagsgruppe Athenäum/Hain: Scriptor: Hanstein.
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