Abstract

This article provides a game-theoretical interpretation of the German Bildungsroman through an analysis of structures present in canonical works that constitute the genre. The concept of “Bildung” active in the Bildungsroman is established to be a quest for an image of a radical alternative to adulthood. The Bildungsroman is revealed to be the chronicle of such a journey. Textual analysis of Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, Novalis’ Heinrich von Ofterdingen, and Hesse’s Glass Bead Game is accompanied by theoretical exposition of the horizons of potentially subsisting pataphysical realms, beyond the limits of speculative metaphysics, in which the Bild sought by those who participate in the specific variety of Bildung chronicled in the Bildungsroman might be discovered. The concept of a “Temporary Autonomous Zone” is applied to the Bildungsroman, linking the cultural practices embedded in the literary genre with those encountered in other performance spaces, including Grateful Dead concerts, raves, and contemporary university humanities programs.