Got Bildungsromans?

[altivo]

An amusing discussion with a coworker this afternoon. She asked about searching for books in the online catalog by using what we call "genre headings" (things like "mystery fiction", "science fiction", or "love stories") and I explained what she could and couldn't do with that and showed her where the list of possible genre headings can be found. She was having enthusiastic ideas about the possibilities when I stirred the pot by telling her, "Don't forget the Bildungsromans."

That got me a look, as I expected. "Bildungsroman" is a literary critic's term that was once used to describe fiction about apprenticeships but has expanded to include any kind of coming-of-age story. Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn or John Steinbeck's The Red Pony are familiar examples of the genre.

We decided it would be very amusing to make a display of books in the library with banners reading "If you like Bildungsromans, you'll love these!" and "Got Bildungsromans?" or "Don't forget a Bildungsroman for the weekend!" The paraphrase of milk promotions is especially apt since Harvard still styles itself "The Milk Capital of the World." Of course we know it would mostly cause people to come ask us what the heck a Bildungswhateverthatis is supposed to be, but that's OK.

I jokingly mentioned it to the director, who actually liked the idea, so we'll probably do it this fall. Whee.

Comments

[kildoo-lonewolf.livejournal.com]

Bad bad horsie :D

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Aww. Just a little bit of mischief. :)

[lobowolf.livejournal.com]

Hey, if it makes people ask, then it's doing its job :D

I've never heard of the term.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

It's fairly esoteric terminology now, but libraries change slowly. Our library has over 20,000 books in it. According to the catalog there are 191 Bildungsromans in printed form, 19 in audiobook form, and 1 in digital form. I suspect that's understated. An awful lot of novels qualify, even Harry Potter can be treated as one.

[corelog.livejournal.com]

Bil...dung...whassahooeys? It sounds like some kind of ancient Latin poop, if you ask me. :P

Oh, and thank you ever so much for the birthday present! :D It arrived today...

[altivo.livejournal.com]

More like Germanic growing pains. :)

Glad the package got there. I've listened to that version and I really liked it. I'm pretty sure you will too.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Oh, and it isn't much of a stretch to call Baree, Son of Kazan a Bildungsroman. Just because the protagonist is a wolf-dog halfbreed doesn't mean it isn't a coming of age. ;D

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

And after that, you can have romans à clef month.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

That's a great idea. I'll add it to the list. ;D

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Here's a tidbit I didn't know until now...

Because Bildungsromans got generalized to refer to any kind of coming of age story, a new term was created for the original "apprenticeship" novel, one in which an artist or writer discovers his/her talent and begins to use it. Those are now called Künstlerromane. Now that's esoteric.

[calydor.livejournal.com]

Bildungsromans ...

Geez, I bet that within the first week, someone with just a vague grasp of German will complain that you're exhibiting illustrated porn stories.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

If they do we'll probably have some fun at their expense.

[scruff.livejournal.com]

Stuff like Tom Jones, Great Expectations etc?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yup. You've got it. Or even Harry Potter. Or Hans Brinker.

[doco.livejournal.com]

Yay for loanwords.

You should put the Harry Potter books in that section. ;)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Good spot. Yes, if we do it, I'll put Harry Potter in the display. Probably Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the best fit.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

You are a twisted equine aren't you, still if it educates the population to some degree I'm all for it.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Twisted? Me?

Sometimes you have to trick people to get them to learn things. :)

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

Go for it. Nothing draws a crowd like, "what the hell..." ^.~

[pogo101.livejournal.com]

(re banners) That reminds me of a (purportedly) very real sign/banner that PT Barnum used to include at his walk-through exhibit halls. See, people paid a flat fee to get in, and the longer they gawked at the stuffs, the fewer paid admissions Barnum would collect:



Of course, you know to where THAT led.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Famous story, yes.

[nekura-ca.livejournal.com]

Neat word, learn something new every day, and it's useful, since I like that sort of book, but never could figure out how to look for more, thanks. How is that pronounced, now?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

It anglifies to BIL-dungz-row-mahnz. That's probably nothing like proper German pronunciation though. The subject heading is official with the Library of Congress and the ALA Genre Subjects list, but hasn't been used consistently (especially on older books.) I'm not sure about Canadian subject practices.