A Bildungsroman is a novel which traces the spiritual, moral, psychological, or social development and growth of the main character from (usually) childhood to maturity.

The term, originally from German, translates to "novel of education" or "novel of formation" in English.

One of the foremost examples of this genre is Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. Other examples include Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, and Charles Dickens's Great Expectations and David Copperfield. Moll Flanders and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn also contain elements of the Bildungsroman.

More contemporary examples are Iain Banks' novel The Crow Road, Ursula K. Le Guin's fantasy novel A Wizard of Earthsea, Bryce Courtenay's The Power of One, John Ringo and David Weber's Empire of Man series, and J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.

See also

• Künstlerroman