Modern Bildungsroman in James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Abstract Throughout the history of literature, literary movements and techniques have developed due to the instant progressive enhancement of human complexities in terms of feelings and individual experiences. Such literary innovations, especially during the modern era, have an instant relation with contemporary political interactions and new psycho-social and cultural studies. Bildungsroman as a traditionally used literary technique has been dramatically adapted to the modern era since the technique itself attempts to provide an account about the matured and ones process of maturation. This study endeavours to inspect Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man as a modern bildungsroman, explaining the techniques that are used in this masterpiece. After introducing James Joyce as a modern novelist, a detailed definition will be offered about the concept of modern bildungsroman. This research comprises three sections: an introduction to James Joyces life, a definition of Bildungsroman, and a discussion of the novel in question.