Description
An investigation of the emotional power of narrative that illuminates the relationship between the human brain and the stories we tell
As humans, we think in stories-stories that allow us to feel and share emotions. In order for this phenomenon to work, our brains and the ways in which we tell stories must be attuned to each other. But how exactly does this happen?
Tapping into the essence of thinking in stories, Fritz Breithaupt draws on the latest scientific research, including a retelling study (comparable to the telephone game) with more than 12,000 participants, and experiments in which ChatGPT functions as storyteller. This wide-ranging study includes analyses of political history, novels, fairy tales, and everyday office gossip; proposes a new theory of narrative that focuses on emotions and affects; and hypothesizes on the evolution of narratives among our hominid ancestors. Redefining us as beings who anchor ourselves in the world through narratives, Breithaupt introduces a new kind of psychology that cuts to the core of how and why humans feel the need to tell stories.
About the Author
Fritz Breithaupt is Provost Professor of Cognitive Science and Germanic Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he directs the Experimental Humanities Lab, and a regular guest professor at St. Gallen University in Switzerland. His books include The Dark Sides of Empathy. He lives in Bloomington, IN.
Reviews
"A brilliant, groundbreaking, and delightful book."-Angus Fletcher, author of Wonderworks:Literary Invention and the Science of Stories
"Fritz Breithaupt seamlessly weaves humanistic studies and scientific methods into a grand picture of what narration, the capability of telling stories, accomplishes for human existence."-Rudiger Campe, Yale University
"This innovative book invites readers to engage with their own lives as 'story' by laying out the narratological basis of our interactions, identities, memories, and intergenerational legacies."-Anette Schwarz, Cornell University
"The Narrative Brain is a uniquely interdisciplinary exploration of the emotional rewards of narrative thinking. This witty, imaginative, and genre-crossing book changes everything we thought we knew about how stories satisfy their readers."-Lisa Zunshine, author of The Secret Life of Literature
"Fritz Breithaupt applies the concept and analysis of narration to a practice of consciousness that we all perform daily, inviting his readers to enjoy a productive reflection on their own existence."-Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, author of Production of Presence
"Fritz Breithaupt expands our understanding of the co-creating reader, who entertains multiple possible directions, possibilities, and outcomes of a narrative while reading."-Suzanne Keen, author of Empathy and the Novel
"Everyone is talking about narratives. Finally there is a book to explain what's really behind them."-Wolfram Eilenberger, author of The Visionaries and Time of the Magicians
Book Information
ISBN 9780300273809
Author Fritz Alwin Breithaupt
Format Hardback
Page Count 296
Imprint Yale University Press
Publisher Yale University Press
As humans, we think in stories-stories that allow us to feel and share emotions. In order for this phenomenon to work, our brains and the ways in which we tell stories must be attuned to each other. But how exactly does this happen?
Tapping into the essence of thinking in stories, Fritz Breithaupt draws on the latest scientific research, including a retelling study (comparable to the telephone game) with more than 12,000 participants, and experiments in which ChatGPT functions as storyteller. This wide-ranging study includes analyses of political history, novels, fairy tales, and everyday office gossip; proposes a new theory of narrative that focuses on emotions and affects; and hypothesizes on the evolution of narratives among our hominid ancestors. Redefining us as beings who anchor ourselves in the world through narratives, Breithaupt introduces a new kind of psychology that cuts to the core of how and why humans feel the need to tell stories.
About the Author
Fritz Breithaupt is Provost Professor of Cognitive Science and Germanic Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he directs the Experimental Humanities Lab, and a regular guest professor at St. Gallen University in Switzerland. His books include The Dark Sides of Empathy. He lives in Bloomington, IN.
Reviews
"A brilliant, groundbreaking, and delightful book."-Angus Fletcher, author of Wonderworks:Literary Invention and the Science of Stories
"Fritz Breithaupt seamlessly weaves humanistic studies and scientific methods into a grand picture of what narration, the capability of telling stories, accomplishes for human existence."-Rudiger Campe, Yale University
"This innovative book invites readers to engage with their own lives as 'story' by laying out the narratological basis of our interactions, identities, memories, and intergenerational legacies."-Anette Schwarz, Cornell University
"The Narrative Brain is a uniquely interdisciplinary exploration of the emotional rewards of narrative thinking. This witty, imaginative, and genre-crossing book changes everything we thought we knew about how stories satisfy their readers."-Lisa Zunshine, author of The Secret Life of Literature
"Fritz Breithaupt applies the concept and analysis of narration to a practice of consciousness that we all perform daily, inviting his readers to enjoy a productive reflection on their own existence."-Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, author of Production of Presence
"Fritz Breithaupt expands our understanding of the co-creating reader, who entertains multiple possible directions, possibilities, and outcomes of a narrative while reading."-Suzanne Keen, author of Empathy and the Novel
"Everyone is talking about narratives. Finally there is a book to explain what's really behind them."-Wolfram Eilenberger, author of The Visionaries and Time of the Magicians
Book Information
ISBN 9780300273809
Author Fritz Alwin Breithaupt
Format Hardback
Page Count 296
Imprint Yale University Press
Publisher Yale University Press
