SOURCE: Serat, Roberta. “Origins of the Künstlerroman.” In Voyage into Creativity: The Modern Künstlerroman, pp. 17-27. New York: Peter Lang, 1992.

In the following essay, Serat traces the origins of the modern künstlerroman from its manifestation during the German Romance period to its current form.

Although the voyage motif traditionally embodies both social and psychological elements, during the Romantic period the emphasis is concentrated on the latter as the artist becomes aware of his difference from other members of society. Rousseau's Confessions¹ and Goethe's Werther² present early delineations of this manifestation of creative temperament, the romantic hero who feels the need to discover his sense of identity. In order to realize his individuality he is confronted with the need to separate himself from existing social orders and revolt against outworn literary canons of the preceding generation:

Je forme une entreprise qui n'eut jamais d'imitateur. Je veux...