Fritz 's Book The Narrative Brain is the Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2023

Fritz Breithaupt’s The Narrative Brain, a redefinition of humans as narrative beings, has been chosen as the Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2023 in the category Medicine/Biology by the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research.

The jury statement reads as follows:

»We encounter narratives everywhere: In conversations, dreams, literature and much more. In this context, storytelling is not only beneficial, it also helps to create meaningful ways of thinking and living, and serves as a way of coping with tragic events. In his book, Fritz Breithaupt examines the effects narratives have on the brain and the connected mechanisms. Through brain research and interdisciplinary experiments, he comes to important conclusions. In one experiment, subjects are asked to continue telling a story; subsequently, researchers observe which parts of the story are remembered. It turns out that it is above all emotions that are remembered, not those described in the story, but those evoked by it. Breithaupt thus argues that narrative thinking enables empathy with other living beings. Moreover, narrative thinking makes people happy and should be encouraged for that reason alone.«

The audience award of the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research is presented every year in four categories: »Natural Sciences and Technology«, »Medicine and Biology«, »Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Sciences« and »Junior Non-Fiction«. A jury nominates the five best books in each category; afterwards, readers can vote for their favourite. The project is designed to communicate the achievements of research and the current state of the accomplishments – in those subject areas that interest the public.

The prize ceremony will take place on May 22, 2023, in Vienna.

For more information, see here:

https://www.suhrkamp.de/rights/nachricht/fritz-breithaupt-s-the-narrative-brain-is-the-non-fiction-book-of-the-year-2023-b-3922