Novel Affinities: Composing the Family in the German Novel, 1795–1830 by Sarah Vandegrift Eldridge (review)

In her study of the development of the novel/Bildungsroman in Germany from 1795–1830 Eldridge astutely and innovatively outlines the convergence of several discourses including scientific, philosophical, pedagogical, legal, and those of various novels (both canonical and non-canonical) as these discourses address and foreground shifting and contesting notions of kinship, family, individuality, the importance of affective relationships, and the individual development of children. Eldridge demonstrates that the Bildungsroman cannot be reduced to a single protagonist’s path to maturity, but that it also engages with and expands biological, pedagogical, and legal discourses and establishes the crucial role that affective family relationships play in every individual’s development. Eldridge’s study also addresses the significance of the new genre of the Bildungsroman as these novels showcase the crucial role of literature in cultural practices of self-reflection and personal development for readers. Eldridge argues convincingly that the Bildungsroman is a site of creative and imaginative exploration and emphasizes that “[n]either the family nor the novel is stable or guaranteed; one of my objects here is to reclaim them both from the kinds of conservative narratives that have confined them to narrow, traditionalist conceptions” (5).

The first chapter is devoted to the explication of scientific discourses promoted by preformation theorists (Haller, Bonnet) and epigenesis theorists (Maupertuis, Buffon, Needham, Wolff, and Blumenbach). Eldridge foregrounds how the epigenesis theory became dominant by the end of the 18^th century and provides a detailed outline of the influence this theory had on Kant’s philosophical work and on pedagogical theories. Eldridge addresses the pedagogical theories of Campe, Pestalozzi, and Gleim, outlining the developing conception of education as a dynamic process of selfforming and individual development. Her analysis is particularly useful in its outline of broader cultural uses of scientific metaphors of epigenesis, which focus on the individual’s education, inner self, and the essential role of affectively based families for development.

The second chapter addresses thematic and formal features of the emerging novel/Bildungsroman that underscore the importance of the epigenetic model of development. The novels Eldridge discusses are by Caroline Wobeser, Johann Jakob Engel, Sophie Mereau, Caroline Fischer, Elisabeth Bekker, and Agatha Deken and encourage readers to question their views on family resemblance, blood ties, and filial duty. Eldridge highlights that throughout these novels parents who adhere to traditional notions of heritage, obedience, and economic ventures often fail to educate their children, fail to understand their inner needs, and force them into loveless marriages. In contrast, Eldridge also points out that non-biological parents, foster and adoptive parents, are often depicted as allowing their children to develop in accord with their own self-reasoning and desires. Eldridge’s analyses of the importance of nonbiological parents throughout these novels provide a new perspective as regards the definition of family in this time period. She also outlines Schlegel’s “Über Goethes Meister” and Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre as texts that highlight the necessity of imaginative engagement with novels and texts. Eldridge demonstrates that the novel was emerging as a text/form of testation intended to enhance the reader’s education and understanding of affective familial relationships.

In Chapter Three Eldridge outlines the importance of inheritance of property, but also the crucial significance of passing down to younger generations one’s principles and values. She begins with an outline of legal discourse concerning inheritance in the Allgemeines Landrecht für die Preußischen Staaten and then highlights in several novels the generational conflicts between parents and children and their disputes over inheritance, but also the persistent insistence throughout these novels that not just property, but family stories need to be passed on to children to facilitate their self-development. Eldridge provides analyses of Therese Huber’s Die Familie Seldof, Elisabeth Bekker and Agatha Deken’s Sara Reinert, and Caroline von Wolzogen’s Agnes von Lilien and demonstrates that all of these stories highlight the idea that...