earticle

한국어

The bildungsroman, a popular genre for centuries since Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, has been specifically read by young adults because the genre serves as a school to raise an ideal citizen who understands the way of the world, accepts the hegemonic ideology controlling the society, and eventually finds his or her place in the community. Although the genre seems conservative, it has been transformed dynamically, casting doubt on the ideology of linear progress, familial solidarity, and congenial community. Bones and All by Camille DeAngelis questions ‘bildung,’ a traditional way of becoming a grown-up, the genre's long-lasting conventions, and the dominant and oppressive modes of being. Following sixteen-year old Maren, whose cannibalism metaphorically signifies an alienated and marginalized teenager, the text not only shows what the hegemonic society expects her to do and be but also her constant failure to find her place within it. Most of all, the narrative of Maren's failing to be socialized reveals to its intended readers the “legitimate” way to grow that the society is imposing on them and queries social values.