New coming-of-age novels for adults in progress? Identity crisisand self-transformation possibilities in some examples taken from contemporary literature

Abstract

The Bildungsroman considers youth its fulcrum: youth constitutes the distinctive feature of its protagonists and it is the setting where instances of individual affirmation meet that of socialization/integration. Such tension will then be resolved in the arrival at adulthood. But… what happens when adulthood is no longer an indisputable and definitive final line? This article intends to search in contemporary literature for reflections regarding adult identity as an identity in progress, whose weakness and crisis require persistence, and intensification, of planning and reflexivity about the self, relationships and transitions in different areas of life experience. For example, attention will be given to some novels, in order to highlight relevant educational issues: problems, awareness, and the planning of becoming/being/maintaining adults. Maybe are these new coming-of-age novels for adults-in-progress?