Dal presente, il passato

The main aim of this article is to discuss the conceptual frame of Bildungsroman in France: usually considered as having risen at the end of 18th century and faded at the end of 19th, concerning a male hero searching his place in the world, this kind of novel has been put in relation with a specific lapse of time and kind of society. We wish to propose a new approach to the French roman d’apprentissage, starting from contemporary texts and moving back to 17th century. The model of Bildungsroman can be reframed starting from its characteristics, showing the links between the contemporary coming-of-age novel and the novel of Ancien Régime: this will also allow the didactic use of nowadays narrative to approach the more complex narrative of the past centuries.