61 On the Bildungsroman Beddow, Michael. The Fictions of Humanity: Studies in the Bildungsroman from Wieland to Thomas Mann. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1982. Concentrates on the Bildungsroman as a self-consciously fictional form. Beddow considers the classic male versions of the genre and keeps the discussion tied to a German context. Includes a bibliography and helpful, though sometimes polemical, notes. Berger, Albert. Asthetik und Bildungsroman: Goethe's "Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre". Wien: Wilhelm Braumiiller, 1977. Attempts to show how the theme of Bildung and the novel form are bound up with each other from the outset in the first Bildungsroman, Wilhelm M eisters Lehrjahre. Bruford, Walter Horace. The German Tradition of Self-Cultivation. London: Cambridge UP, 1975. Bruford investigates Bildung in the German tradition by examining texts in which this idea is central from the late eighteenth century through Thomas Mann. A good place to begin this topic, Bruford's book charts the decline and fall of the concept. Good bibliography, though obviously somewhat dated. Buckley, Jerome Hamilton. Season of Youth: The Bildungsroman from Dickens to Golding. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1974. While he concentrates on the development of the Bildungsroman in England, Buckley provides a solid definition of the traditional Bildungsroman, distinguishing it from the related forms of the Entwicklungsroman, Erziehungsroman, and Kiintslerroman. Indeed, his formulation seems to be the definition of the genre most cited by post-1974 authors on the subject, especially those who are dealing with the female Bildungsroman. No bibliography. Gottfried, Marianne Hirsch. "Defining Bildungsroman as a Genre." PMLA 91 (1976): 122. In this letter, Marianne Hirsch objects to certain aspects of the Miles article listed below. Followed by a reply from Miles-an interesting exchange. Hirsch, Marianne. "The Novel of Formation as Genre: Between Great Expectations and Lost Illusions." Genre 12 (1979): 293-311. Here, Hirsch argues for the definition of a pan-European genre (identified by "thematic and formal features") that goes beyond the strictly German concept of Bildung, and she proposes the term "novel of formation" to designate it. This is a significant contribution to the topic with important implications for the female Bildungsroman. Helpful notes. Howe, Susanne. Wilhelm Meister and His English Kinsmen. New York: Columbia UP, 1930. Howe's study is an early investigation of the "novel of apprenticeship" in England with its roots in the German tradition initiated by Wilhelm Meister.