In literary criticism, a Bildungsroman (German pronunciation:[ˈbɪldʊŋs.ʁoˌmaːn]; German:"novel of formation, education, culture"), novel of formation, novel of education, or coming-of-age story (though it may also be known as a subset of the coming-of-age story) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood (coming of age), in which character change is extremely important.