Cherpack Lounge
How do narratives shape our thinking and what makes stories so captivating? The first part of the talk will propose a model of narrative cognition, focusing on narrative emotions—emotions that reward our engagement with stories. Here, I will also present empirical findings and summarize ideas from my book, The Narrative Brain. The second part will focus on one complex narrative emotion, namely the feeling of being moved. More specifically, we will discuss scenes of recognition (anagnorisis) in 19th-century prose, from the Grimm Brothers’ Cinderella to Balzac.
Fritz Breithaupt is Provost Professor at Indiana University in Germanic Studies and Cognitive Science, and adjunct professor in comparative literature. His research focusses on European literature from the 18th century to today, narrative thinking, empathy, and emotions. His latest books are The Dark Sides of Empathy (Cornell UP, 2019) and The Narrative Brain (Yale UP, Feb. 2025). The latter is the official #1 Science Book of 2023 in Austria. His next book, Once, Twice, Never: How We Make Experiences, will come out in September 2025 (Suhrkamp). Fritz directs the Experimental Humanities Lab.