PRETENTIOUS

Many of us remember well the term “bildungsroman”, because we had to use it quite often in the last course of Eng. Phil., in UNED. But not everybody is fond of it. Here is what A.J. Jacobs (author of the hilarious The Know-It-All) has to say about it:
“In case you want to sound pretentious, … Do no not use the word “bildungsroman” when talking about a coming-of-age novel. Yes, it’s pretentious. But it’s not really pretentious. Try these: Kunstlerroman, a novel that deals with the formative years of an artist. Erziehungsroman, a novel of upbringing. Entwicklungsroman, a novel of character development. “I think Harry Potter is a fabulous Kunstleroman!”