Martin Japtok (Palomar College)
mjap@****.com (Log-in to reveal)

Yuki Namiki (Tokyo Kasei University)
nami@****.com (Log-in to reveal)

Since the late 18th century, the Bildungsroman, has been a persistent presence on the global literary scene and has become a popular genre that shows no signs of going away. It has proven to be remarkably flexible, spawned subgenres, and served a variety of purposes. This session hopes to explore why the genre has been considered so useful by many writers.

All approaches to the genre are welcome.

Since the late 18th century, the Bildungsroman, has been a persistent presence on the global literary scene and has become a popular genre that shows no signs of going away. It has proven to be remarkably flexible, spawned subgenres, and served a variety of purposes. The genre originally often traced the initial rebellion and eventual successful integration of a male protagonist into his society but has since been adopted and changed by women writers and writers from all ethnic backgrounds and nationalities and been utilized to explore any number of identity positions. Such adoptions have led to multiple changes in the genre as writers have wrestled with and modified its original philosophical/ideological assumptions. This session hopes to explore why the genre has been considered so useful by many writers.

All approaches to the genre are welcome. Presentation might consist of analyses of individual Bildungsromane from any literary traditions; papers might examine how has the genre changed over time or by being adopted by writers from various backgrounds and cultures; they might examine the philosophical/ideological underpinnings of the genre or ask to what extent literary genre conventions might serve as a constraint on work’s content or whether the genre is inherently beholden to its individualist roots; presentations could also explore the relationship of the Bildungsroman to its close cousin, the autobiography.

Some possible topics:

--analyses of individual Bildungsromane from any literary tradition

--all genre-related approaches

--how has the genre changed over time?

--how has it changed by being adopted by writers from various backgrounds and cultures?

--philosophical/ideological underpinnings of the genre

--to what extent can literary genre conventions serve as a constraint on a

work’s content?

--is the genre inherently beholden to its individualist roots?

--what is the Bildungsroman's relationship to the autobiography?