TITLE:
Spiritual Quest in a Secular Age: Cultural Transformations of Mystical Narratives in the Bildungsroman
AUTHORS:
Wei Wei
KEYWORDS:
Bildungsroman, Mysticism, Individuation, Spiritual Awakening
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.12 No.9,
September
24,
2025
ABSTRACT: This paper examines how mysticism constitutes the deep narrative dynamics of the Bildungsroman from Goethe in the late eighteenth century to contemporary global literature. In the process of modernity that Weber called the “disenchantment of the world”, the Bildungsroman responds to humanity’s persistent longing for transcendence in an age of rationalization by incorporating mystical experiences. The study finds that different cultural traditions have developed unique modes of mystical narrative: the German tradition established a dialectical unity of reason and mysticism through Goethe’s “dialectical pedagogy”, Novalis’s “inward transcendence”, Hesse’s synthesis of Eastern and Western spirituality, and Thomas Mann’s “horizontal transcendence”; Victorian England ingeniously combined scientific discourse (such as mesmerism and telepathy) with supernatural phenomena, as Brontë, Dickens, and Eliot respectively explored female mystical experience, the hidden springs of consciousness, and Spinozist spiritual monism; American literature integrated Emersonian transcendentalism, Eastern Zen wisdom, and African American and Native American spiritual traditions; contemporary global literature demonstrates paths of spiritual growth in the age of globalization through cultural hybridity and religious syncretism. Employing Jung’s individuation theory and Taylor’s secularization theory as analytical frameworks, this paper argues that mystical experience is the core mechanism driving protagonists’ consciousness transformation and growth awakening. From Wilhelm Meister’s tower revelation to Jane Eyre’s telepathic call, from Siddhartha’s river enlightenment to Holden’s Zen awakening, these moments of awakening mark the deep integration of ego and self in the individuation process. Mysticism in the Bildungsroman provides modern humanity with narrative wisdom for seeking the sacred within the secular and grasping the infinite within the finite.Subject AreasBildungsroman Study