Ingenre studies, acoming-of-age story is agenre ofliterature,theatre,film, andvideo game that focuses on the growth of aprotagonist from childhood to adulthood, or "coming of age". Coming-of-age stories tend to emphasize dialogue or internal monologue over action and are often set in the past. The subjects of coming-of-age stories are typically teenagers.[1] TheBildungsroman is a specific subgenre of coming-of-age story.
The plot points of coming-of-age stories are usually emotional changes within the character(s) in question.[2]
Inliterary criticism, coming-of-age novels andBildungsroman are sometimes interchangeable, but the former is usually a wider genre. TheBildungsroman (from the German wordsBildung, "education", alternatively "forming" andRoman, "novel") is further characterized by a number of formal, topical, and thematic features.[3] It focuses on the psychological and moral growth of theprotagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age),[4] in which character change is important.[5][6][7]
The genre evolved from folk tales of young children exploring the world to find their fortune.[8] Although theBildungsroman arose in Germany, it has had extensive influence first in Europe and later throughout the world.Thomas Carlyle had translatedGoethe'sWilhelm Meister novels into English, and after their publication in 1824/1825, many British authors wrote novels inspired by it.[9][10]
Many variations of theBildungsroman exist, such as theKünstlerroman ("artist novel"), which focuses on the self-growth of an artist.[11]
In light novels and manga from Japan, coming-of-age is a primary genre of Japanese literature used for protagonists' growth from childhood and adulthood.Masashi Kishimoto's mangaNaruto is the most notable example of the genre, depicting the teenage protagonistNaruto Uzumaki with self-confidence, growth and ambition to becoming the Hokage.[12]
Light novels and manga such asBeastars,Major,[13]Mushoku Tensei,[14]My Hero Academia andVinland Saga also depicting coming-of-age elements but with mature, complex storytelling as it progresses.
In film, teen film is a genre of coming-of-age films, focusing on the psychological and moral growth or transition of aprotagonist fromyouth to adulthood. A variant in the 2020s is the "delayed-coming-of-age film, a kind of story that acknowledges the deferred nature of 21st-century adulthood", in which young adults may still be exploring short-term relationships, living situations, and jobs even into their late 20s and early 30s.[15]
Personal growth and change is an important characteristic of the genre, which relies on dialogue and emotional responses, rather than action. The story is sometimes told in the form of a flashback.[1] Historically, coming-of-age films usually centred on young boys, although coming-of-age films focusing on girls have become more common in the early 21st century, such asThe Poker House (2008),Winter's Bone (2010),Girlhood (2014),Inside Out (2015),The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015),The Edge of Seventeen (2016),Lady Bird (2017),Aftersun (2022),Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023),Inside Out 2 (2024),Dìdi (2024).[16]
Franco Moretti et John Neubauer, historiens de la littérature, ont tous deux insisté sur le rôle fondamental qu'a joué le roman, depuis la fin du XVIIIe siècle jusqu'à la Première Guerre mondiale, dans la construction des âges de la vie, de l'adolescence et la jeunesse. Si, avant cette période, les jeunes sont les laissés-pour-compte de la littérature romanesque, cette entrée tardive est compensée par la place centrale qu'ils occupent dans le roman de formation. Vers la fin du XIXe siècle, quand ce genre entre en crise, les jeunes sont remplacés par les adolescents, nouveaux protagonistes des œuvres de fiction. Après les écrits de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, le roman de formation, ou Bildungsroman, dont l'apogée se situe entre Les années d'apprentissage de Wilhelm Meister de Goethe (1795–1796) et l'Éducation sentimentale de Flaubert (1869), invente la figure littéraire du jeune homme voyageur. C'est à partir donc de cette période qu'il faudra retrouver certains traits des voyages fictionnels, que j'appelle matrices , qui hantent encore notre imaginaire, et que l'on retrouve dans les séjours Erasmus contemporains
