Are stories what make us uniquely human? The amazingly varied shortlist for this year's Booker Prize for Fiction highlights the way a passion for narrative unites people worldwide.
Booker Prize list: ‘moment of cultural change’
Are stories what make us uniquely human? The amazingly varied shortlist for this year's Booker Prize for Fiction highlights the way a passion for narrative unites people worldwide.
In Avni Doshi's novel Burnt Sugar, a young woman in the Indian city of Pune abandons her child to join a cult.
In Maaza Mengiste's The Shadow King, set during the 1935n invasion of EthiopiaItaly invaded Ethiopia under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. The country remained under Italian control until 1941, when it was liberated by the Allied forces., a man rallies the local troops by impersonating the exiled Emperor Haile SelassieOriginally called Ras Tafari, he became a messianic figure for the Rastafarian movement in Jamaica. Three weeks ago, a statue of him in a London park was smashed by a crowd protesting about the current Ethiopian government..
In Tsitsi Dangarembga's This Mournable Body, a Zimbabwean country girl struggles to make a new life for herself in HarareThe capital of Zimbabwe. Founded as a fort, and originally called Salisbury, it was renamed after the country gained independence in 1980..
These are just three of the 13 novels on the shortlist for the 2020 Booker Prize announced yesterday. Among the authors vying for one of the world's most prestigious literary awards - and a cheque for 50,000 - are two established stars, Hilary MantelAn English writer whose two previous Booker-winning novels are Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. The Mirror and the Light completes her trilogy about 16th-Century politician Thomas Cromwell. and Anne TylerAn American writer whose books include The Accidental Tourist and Breathing Lessons, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction..
If Mantel's The Mirror and the Light proves victorious, she will be the first writer ever to have won the prize three times.
But what is most notable about the shortlist is the number of little-known authors at the beginning of their careers. Eight of them - including Avni Doshi - have been nominated for their very first novels.
The others include Brandon Taylor, whose Real Life is about a young, gay black man at university in America's Midwest, and C Pam Zhang, whose How Much of These Hills Is Gold tells of two orphaned Chinese children try to survive in 19th-Century America.
As Gaby Wood, literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation, observes, "It is perhaps obvious that powerful stories can come from unexpected places and in unfamiliar forms; nevertheless, this kaleidoscopic list serves as a reminder."
The historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari argues that our ability to invent stories has a significance far beyond offering entertainment or insights into the world. It is, he believes, the key skill that has given the human race primacy over other creatures.
"Fiction," he writes, "has enabled us not merely to imagine things, but to do so collectively [...]. Ants and bees can also work together in huge numbers, but they do so in a very rigid manner and only with close relatives."
"Wolves and chimpanzees co-operate far more flexibly than ants, but they can do so only with small numbers of other individuals that they know intimately.n SapiensRelating to, or being recent humans (Homo sapiens). can co-operate in extremely flexible ways with countless numbers of strangers."
"That's why humans rule the world, whereas ants eat our leftovers and chimps are locked up in zoos and research laboratories."
By fiction, Harari means not only books but "common myths that exist only in people's collective imagination". Nations - as opposed to the land they occupy - only exist because their citizens believe they do.
Similarly, money would be worthless if we did not agree to assign it a value and buy and sell things with it. There would be no legal system if people had not dreamed up laws and persuaded others that they should abide by them. Companies like Google have a huge impact on our lives, and employ thousands of people, yet they are completely intangibleEssentially this describes things that are impossible to touch or grasp. Sometimes it's used as an adjective for things that can't be measured, or even understood..
<h5 class=" eplus-wrapper" id="are-stories-what-make-us-uniquely-human">Are stories what make us uniquely human?</h5>
Some argue that all creatures engage in storytelling of some kind: that is how the knowledge needed for survival is passed on. A monkey showing its young how to climb a tree is constructing a type of narrative even if it lacks words. What makes us human is our superior intelligence and ability to build things, as well as, perhaps, one of our least attractive traits - killing for pleasure.
Triumphantly yes, say others. The earliest humans cemented their communities by coming together to tell stories around a fire. What sets us apart from animals is our powerful imagination, and the ability to share ideas with others - persuading them to see things from our point of view. This allows us to plan for the future and enlist help in realising our ambitions.
Invasion of Ethiopia - Italy invaded Ethiopia under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. The country remained under Italian control until 1941, when it was liberated by the Allied forces.
Haile Selassie - Originally called Ras Tafari, he became a messianic figure for the Rastafarian movement in Jamaica. Three weeks ago, a statue of him in a London park was smashed by a crowd protesting about the current Ethiopian government.
Harare - The capital of Zimbabwe. Founded as a fort, and originally called Salisbury, it was renamed after the country gained independence in 1980.
Hilary Mantel - An English writer whose two previous Booker-winning novels are Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. The Mirror and the Light completes her trilogy about 16th-Century politician Thomas Cromwell.
Anne Tyler - An American writer whose books include The Accidental Tourist and Breathing Lessons, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Sapiens - Relating to, or being recent humans (Homo sapiens).
Intangible - Essentially this describes things that are impossible to touch or grasp. Sometimes it's used as an adjective for things that can't be measured, or even understood.
Booker Prize list: ‘moment of cultural change’

Glossary
Invasion of Ethiopia - Italy invaded Ethiopia under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. The country remained under Italian control until 1941, when it was liberated by the Allied forces.
Haile Selassie - Originally called Ras Tafari, he became a messianic figure for the Rastafarian movement in Jamaica. Three weeks ago, a statue of him in a London park was smashed by a crowd protesting about the current Ethiopian government.
Harare - The capital of Zimbabwe. Founded as a fort, and originally called Salisbury, it was renamed after the country gained independence in 1980.
Hilary Mantel - An English writer whose two previous Booker-winning novels are Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. The Mirror and the Light completes her trilogy about 16th-Century politician Thomas Cromwell.
Anne Tyler - An American writer whose books include The Accidental Tourist and Breathing Lessons, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Sapiens - Relating to, or being recent humans (Homo sapiens).
Intangible - Essentially this describes things that are impossible to touch or grasp. Sometimes it's used as an adjective for things that can't be measured, or even understood.