Der Jungsche Individuationsprozess in Hermann Hesses Erzaehlung 'Demian' (German text)

Hermann Hesse's novel Demian demonstrates how the tradition of the German Bildungs-Entwicklungsroman initiated by Goethes Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre achieves characteristics of decomposition at the beginning of the 20th century. Hesse's approach to C. G. Jung's psychoanalytical theories and the concept of archetypes in regard to individual development are characteristic in the author's work in general. The application of such theories in the novel Demian demonstrates how the move of the German Bildungs and Entwicklungsroman becomes clear. The final goal of individual development is no longer the main protagonists integration into society, or the assimilation of the individual's life with his social environment, rather it is the protagonists approach to his own self. As a consequence the main focus which was on a character and the outside world now shifts to the character's inner world. C. G. Jung's theory about the individuation process in the sequence of shadow, anima and self constitute the main structure of the novel Demian. This psychoanalytical core in a literary form initiates a totally new concept of the German Bildungs-Entwicklungsroman. It also gives evidence as to how the definition of the German novel in the beginning of the 20th century is confronted with new problems and therefore the definition of the literary genre Bildungs and Entwicklungsroman becomes more complex.