The Concept of German Bildung as a Realization of the Hero Archetype

Abstract

This paper is trying to offer a perspective on why the German concept of Bildung was able to master transitions regarding time, geography, and disciplines. The argument of this paper is that Bildung is a transformative process which greatly resembles the archetypical pattern as identified by Carl Gustav and later refined by Joseph Campbell. In order to argue for this claim, this paper will provide an overview on the idea of the archetype and, in the following, identify aspects of Bildung which follow the archetypical pattern. The paper will focus on the history of the term as well as its origins but also on specific realization of learning processes as suggested by educational psychology as well as educational institutions.