"wiewohl von allen Mitteln der Aufklärung la autobiografía de Ulrich Bräker como texto precursor del género de la novela de formación

Abstract

One of the least known, but certainly most interesting works of Swiss literature written in German is an autobiography. The text could be the account of the life of any young Swiss man of the second half of the 17th century, a time defined by general poverty in that country. Lebensgeschichte und natürliche Ebentheuer des Armen Mannes im Tockenburg was written by the self-taught author Ulrich Bräcker (1735-1798). Born into a humble peasant family, Bräcker spent his childhood rearing goats and then voluntarily joined the Prussian army, just as almost all Swiss young men had done throughout the centuries. Woven throughout his autobiography, which begins chronologically at his birth, is a description of the very eventful journeys Bräcker undertook all around a world that was completely new and unknown to him and that finally led him back to his homeland. On the basis of this structure, this article aims to examine the relationship between this text and the genre of the Bildungsroman, with which Bräcker's autobiography shares numerous similarities.