This book provides an historical overview of criticism of the Bildungsroman from the late 18th century to the present. Although written for scholars of the German novel it will also be of interest to scholars in other literatures.The genre of the Bildungsroman includes some of the greatest German novels yet its definition is considerably less obvious than imagined by the majority of scholars and students who use the term.

The book rejects the notion that criticism seeks to elucidate the timeless values of classics, and moves toward the analysis of the cultural and historical factors that shape the reception of a text, genre, or author in successive generations of readers.