Ilit Ferber
Philosophy Department
Tel-Aviv Universty
About Me
Photo by Yanai Yechiel
Prof. Ilit Ferber teaches philosophy at Tel-Aviv University.
Her research focuses on the philosophy of emotions, especially melancholy, suffering and pain, from the perspective of language. Ilit has published articles on Leibniz, Herder, Freud, Benjamin, Heidegger, Scholem, Ovid, Améry and others. She has also co-edited a book on the role of moods in philosophy; two books, in English and Hebrew, on lament in Gershom Scholem’s thought; and a book on the grammer of the cry in Spanish.
Ferber's first book Philosophy and Melancholy: Benjamin's Early Reflections on Theater and Language (Stanford University Press in 2013) explores the role of melancholy in Benjamin's early writings and discusses the relationship between Benjamin, Freud and Leibniz.
Her second book Language Pangs: On Pain and the Origin of Language (Oxford University Press, 2019) explores the role of pain in Herder's theory of the origin of language, Heidegger's seminar about Herder, and Sophocles'
"Philoctetes". The book was recently translated into German.
She is now working on two parallel projects:
(1) Jean Améry's philosophy of temporality (funded by the ISF)
(2) The role of acoustics in Walter Benjamin's work.
Publications
Monographs
Language Pangs: On Pain and the Origin of Language (Oxford University Press, 2019).
> in German translation: Sprachwehen: Über Schmerz und den Ursprung der Sprache, Trans: Peter Brandes (Neofelis Verlag, 2023).
Philosophy and Melancholy: Benjamin's Early Reflections on Theater and Language (Stanford University Press, 2013).
Edited Books
Jean Améry, On Aging: Revolt and Resignation [Hebrew translation], Scientific Editor and Translation Editor (Carmel Press, 2023).
Escribir La Violencia. Hacia Una Gramatica Del Grito [Writing violence. Toward a grammar of the cry], Co-Edited with A. Liviana- Messina and A. Potestà (Metales Pesados, 2019).
Lamentations: Poetry and Thought in Gershom Scholem [in Hebrew], Co-Edited with Galili Shahar (Carmel, 2016).
Lament in Jewish Thought: Philosophical, Theological and Literary Perspectives, Co-Edited with Paula Schwebel (De Gruyter, 2014).
Philosophy’s Moods: The Affective Grounds of Thinking, Co-Edited with Hagi Kenaan (Springer, 2011).
Journal Articles
“Pain’s Echo: Lament and Revenge in Ovid’s ’Procne and Philomela’,” Humanities12, no. 5 (2023): 96-108.
“Walter Benjamin and the Acoustics of Childhood,” Angelaki 27, no. 5 (2022): 37-55.
“’Schmerz war ein Staudamm.’ Benjamin sur la Douleur” [in French], Sociétés (Revue des Sciences Humaines et Sociales) 51, no. 1 (2021): 63-78.
“Sprache und Hören bei Herder“ [in German], in: Galili Shahar (Ed.), Geschichte und Repräsentation Sinne – Sprache – Bilder (Das Tel Aviver Jahrbuch für deutsche Geschichte 46), Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2019, 11-32.
“An Essay on Melancholy and Rhythm” [in Hebrew], MiKan 18 (forthcoming, 2019).
“Wandering About Language,” Philosophy Today 61(4) (2017), pp. 1005-1012.
“Mesihçilik ve Bir Geleceğin OlanaksızlığI” [Messianism and the Impossibility of a Future] [in Turkish], sabah ülkesi: üç aylık kültür-sanat ve felsefe dergisi 53 (2016), pp. 60-64.
Melankoli Felsefesi: Sigmund Freud - Walter Benjamin [in Turkish] (Sub Yayinlari) (2016).
“Pain as Yardstick: Jean Améry,” Journal of French and Francophone Philosophy, special issue on Jean Amery XXIV (3) (2016), pp. 3-16.
“A Feel for Benjamin,” in The Future of Benjamin MLA Commons, Special issue ed.: Nitzan Lebovic (2015)
“’Schmerz war ein Staudamm’: Benjamin on Pain,” Benjamin-Studien 3 (2014), pp. 165-177.
“Lament and Pure Language: Scholem, Benjamin and Kant,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 21(1) (2014), pp. 42-54.
“A Language of the Border: On Scholem's Theory of Lament,” Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 12(2) (2014), pp. 161-186.
“A Wound Without Pain: Freud on Aphasia,” Naharaim: Journal of German Jewish Literature and Cultural History 4 (2010), pp. 133-151.
“Herder: On Pain and the Origin of Language,” The Germanic Review 85 (2010), pp. 205-223."I
”Interruptions in Brecht and Benjamin: The Case of Brecht's Radio Plays,” Assaf: Studies in Theater 19-20 (2005), pp.35-52.
Book Chapters
“Benjamin on Pain and Storytelling,“ Palgrave Benjamin Handbook, ed. Nathan Ross (Palgrave-Macmillan, forthcoming).
“Language and Umbrüch, the Umbrüch of Language: Scholem and Bialik” [in German], Juedischer Almanach, ed. Gisela Dachs (Suhrkamp Verlag, forthcoming).
“’People are more Important than their Opinions’: Arendt and Scholem on Exile and Community” [in Hebrew], Tikkun Olam, ed. Orr Scharf (Carmel Press, forthcoming).
“The incurable Illness: Jean Améry on Aging” [in Hebrew], introduction to the Hebrew translation of Améry, On Aging: Revolt and Resignation (Carmel, 2023), 11-33.
“On Laws and Miracles,” in Religion in Reason: Metaphysics, Ethics, and Politics in Hent de Vries, eds. Tarek R. Dika, Martin Shuste (Routledge, 2022), 129-138.
“’In Voice Land’: Benjamin on Air,” in Forces of Education: Walter Benjamin and the Politics of Pedagogy, (eds.) Dennis Johanßen, Dominik Zechner (Bloomsbury, 2022), 143-158.
“La violencia del lenguaje: Herder y Sófocles” [in Spanish], in Escribir la violencia. Hacia una gramatica del grito, (eds.) A. Liviana-Messina, A. Potestà, I. Ferber (Metales Pesados, 2019).
“Gershom Scholem on the Language of Lament,” in Lamentations: Poetry and Thought in Gershom Scholem [in Hebrew], eds.: G. Shahar, I. Ferber (Carmel, 2016), 105-131.
“’Este país es un volcan’. Notas sobre ’Nuestra lengua’ de Scholem [’This Country is a Volcano’: Remarks on Scholem's ’On Our Language’],” Filosofía y mesianismo: Lenguaje, temporalidad y política, eds.: A. Liviana Messina, E. Taub, trans.: Matías Bascuñan (Santiago: Metales Pesados) (2016), 19-34.
“Sadness and Photography: Barthes and Benjamin,” in Philosophy of Emerging Media Understanding, Appreciation, Application, eds. J. Floyd, J. E. Katz (Oxford University Press, 2016), pp. 206-216.
“Language and Instability: Scholem and Bialik on Language and Secularization,” in Language as Bridge and Border: Linguistic, Cultural and Political Constellations in Eighteenth to Twentieth Century German-Jewish Thought, ed. S. Sander (Hentrich & Hentrich, 2015), pp. 179-194.
“Stimmung: Heidegger and Benjamin,” in Sparks Will Fly: Walter Benjamin and Martin Heidegger, eds: A. Benjamin, D. Vardoulakis (SUNY, 2015), pp. 67-93.
”’Incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech’: Scholem, Benjamin, and Cohen on Lament,” in Lament in Jewish Thought: Philosophical, Theological and Literary Perspectives, eds.: I. Ferber, P. Schwebel (De Gruyter Press, 2014), pp. 111-130.
“Aphasie, Trauma, und Freud’s Schmerzlose Wunde,” in Freuds Referenzen, eds.: G. Scharbert, C. Kirschhoff (Berlin: Kadmos Kulturverlag, 2012), pp. 145-167.
“Philosophy’s Moods: An Introduction,” co-authored with H. Kenaan, in Philosophy's Moods: The Affective Grounds of Thinking (Springer Press, 2011), pp. 3-10.
“Leibniz’s Monad: A Study in Melancholy and Harmony,” in Philosophy's Moods: The Affective Grounds of Thinking (Springer Press, 2011), pp. 53-68.
“The Ghosts of History,” in We Never Looked Better (Bet Hatfuzot Publishing, 2009), pp.19-27 [in Hebrew] ;21-32 [in English].
Book Reviews and other Writings
”Améry’s On Aging: Introduction to Symposium” [in Hebrew], Iyun (Spring, 2023).
”Review of Yael Almog,” Secularism and Hermeneutics, The Syndicate (August, 2021)
”’Language Pangs’: Response to María del Rosario Acosta López,” Ideas Y Valores 70, no. 5 (2021), 177-183.
“Everything has been a trace worse than I have foreseen: Jean Améry on Aging”
[in Hebrew], Haaretz (September 24, 2020).
”Review of Rachel Zuckert’s ’Herder’s Naturalist Aesthetics,’” Australasian Journal of Philosophy (2020), 420.
”Review of ’Walter Benjamin: A Critical Life’ by Howard Eiland, Michael W. Jennings,” German Quarterly, Vol.89 no.1 (2016), pp.250-252.
Research Grants and Awards
2023-2026
“The Irreversible: Resentment and Forgiveness“ Israeli Science Foundation (ISF)
2022
“The Language of Space and the Space of Language: Between 1900 and 1930”
Joint project with Prof. Peter Fenves (Northwestern University).
Funded by Northwestern University.
2020
Recipient of the Kadar award for outstanding research.
2019-2023
“Jean Amery: A Philosophy of Time” Israeli Science Foundation (ISF)
2018
“The Language of Love and Loss” funded by Tel Aviv University- Goethe Universität Frankfurt research workshops fund
2017
“Lament and Revenge: On the Violence of Language,” grant to fund a conference in Goethe University, Frankfurt, from the Minerva Institute for German History Tel-Aviv and Freunde und Förderer der Goethe-Universität
2016-2018
“Writing and violence: From the Violence of Language to the Promises of Writing (philosophy, literature, politics),” CONICYT joint research project: TAU and Diego Portales University, Santiago Chile (Co-Director)
2015
Dean best teaching award
2014-2015
“Suffering, Ecstasy and Reason: Modalities and Images,” research grant TAU and Monash University (Co-Director)
2013
Center for Culture and Literature Research (ZFL), Berlin (Visiting scholar)
2011-2013
“Sprachdenken und politische Theorie. Jüdisch deutsche Beiträge vom 18. bis 20. Jahrhundert,” DFG research grant (Co-Director)
2010
University of Chicago (Visiting scholar)
2009
Center for Culture and Literature Research (ZFL), Berlin (Visiting scholar)
2008-2010
Yad-Hanadiv (Rothschild) (Post-Doc. Fellowship)
2007-2008
Franz Rosenzweig Minerva Center, Jerusalem (Post-Doc. Fellowship)
2007
Leo Baeck Institute (Jerusalem) Prize
Teaching
selection
Courses
Introduction to Nineteenth Century Philosophy
The Wisdom of Aging
Theories of the Origin of Language
Philosophy of History
German-Jewish Thinkers
Seminars
Jean Améry and his Interlocutors
Suffering and Language: East and West (co-teaching)
Walter Benjamin and the Five Senses
Jean Améry on Suffering and Temporality
Philosophy and Melancholy
Suffering and Knowledge
Suffering, Resentment and Forgiveness: Jean Améry
Pain and Expression
Walter Benjamin's Metaphysics of Youth
Hegel's Aesthetics (co-teaching)
Sacred and Secular in Language
Research Seminars
Philosophy of Emotions
Voice and Hearing
Theories of the Origin of Language
Emotions and Moods
International cooperation
Language and Trauma in German Jewish Thought (1895-1945) (co-teaching with Goethe University, Frankfurt)
Language and Trauma in German Jewish Thought (1945-1975) (co-teaching with Goethe University, Frankfurt)
Thinking and Dreaming (co-teaching with Goethe University, Frankfurt)
Talks
selection
2023
”Anger” [Hebrew with English and Arabic subtitles]
Form an Informed Opinion Shorts Series, Tel Aviv University
“The Weight of Time: Améry on Aging, Regret and Irreversibility”
University of Copenhagen
”On Being Nailed to One’s Past: Jean Améry and the Time of Resentment”
University of Innsbruck
“Benjamin and Acoustics”
Northwestern University
“On Time and the Fissured-I: Old Age and the Problem of Identity”
Goethe University, Frankfurt
2022
“Jean Améry and Skepticism”
University of Hamburg
“Améry and Jankélévitch on the Crisis of Jewish Identity”
University of Haifa
2021
“On Uncertainty and Acknowledgement”
Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
“On the Impossibility of Listening to Oneself”
Isolation (online international workshop)
“Holocaust Remembrance Day public lecture”
Lafayette College, Pennsylvania
2020
“Language Pangs: On Pain and Acknowledgement”
Emory University
“In Voice Land”: Walter Benjamin’s Radio work for Children”
Goethe University, Frankfurt
2019
“In Voice Land: Walter Benjamin On Air”
Keynote Speaker
Forces of Education: Benjamin and the Possibility of a Global Pedagogy
Walter Benjamin Archiv und Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung Berlin
"Herder's Reading of Sophocles: On Pain, Language and Sympathy"
invited talk
Utrecht University
2018
“Loss and Love in Benjamin and Barthes”
Loss and Love
Goethe University, Frankfurt
“On Lament and Revenge”
Lament, Reading and Therapy Workshop
Centre for the Study of the Bible in the Humanities
Oriel college, Oxford University
"A Language of Pain: Herder and the Origin of Language"
Violence, Inc.
University of Chicago
“On Pain and the Problem of Sympathy: Herder and Sophocles”
Keynote speaker:
(Anti-) Idealism & (Anti-)Classicism: Workshop Literature and Philosophy, University College Cork
2017
Keynote speaker: “Jean Améry on Violence and Language”
The Critiques of Violence
Institute of Philosophy, University of Leuven
“Pain’s Echo: Lament and Revenge”
Lament and Revenge: The Violence of Language
Goethe University, Frankfurt
2016
“Hearing is the Organ of Language: Herder”
German Desires
Tel-Aviv University
“The First Blow”: Jean Améry on the Experience of Pain"
Ethics of Pain: Secular and Religious Suffering
Tel-Aviv University
watch the talk (min, 2:00-23:00)
“Sense and Hearing in Herder’s Theory of Language”
Imagination and Affectivity
University of Pisa
2015
“Language Failing: The Reach of Lament"
ICI, Berlin
2014
“Wandering About Language”
Werner Hamacher: Gesture, Performativity, Language
Royal College of Arts, London
“Rosenzweig on the Homelessness of Language”
Dialogical Textures Workshop
Tel-Aviv University
Contact
Philosophy Department, Tel-Aviv University
P.O.B. 39040
Ramat Aviv, TelAviv 6997801
Israel