The Bildungsroman in a Genocidal Age brings fresh and insightful approaches to contemporary fictional and cinematic texts, combining astute close readings alongside a range of theoretical prisms. Revisited as a highly mobile, fluid, multifaceted genre, the Bildungsroman – in adult and children's fiction alike – is persuasively showcased as a pedagogical “off-piste” roadmap to equip readers, including fledgling future citizens, with the wherewithal to challenge the reductive rigidity of homogenizing dominant hegemonies. This book regards Bildung as vital questing counter-narratives of cosmopolitan “ethical awakening” that seek to dismantle patriarchy's stranglehold on historical, religiocultural and familial
matrices, and remap the trajectory of humanity's formation.

Fiona McCulloch, Independent Scholar, UK

In this scrupulous and insightful study which links Bildungsroman theory and memory studies, Curthoys once again demonstrates the unique adaptability of the Bildungsroman genre. Eschewing the simple language of paradox when describing the seemingly unlikely coupling of the Bildungsroman and the Holocaust, Curthoys demonstrates that even in its encounter with the reality of genocide, and even when it focuses on protagonists complicit in the most harrowing violence, the Bildungsroman nonetheless continues to function as a genre uniquely positioned to meticulously examine the complexities of individual self-fashioning and self-exploration.

Aleksandar Stevic, Associate Professor of English, Lingnan University, Hong Kong