Samuel Weber

Samuel Weber (b. 1940) is a distinguished American philosopher, literary theorist, and psychoanalyst. He holds the Paul de Man Chair at The European Graduate School / EGS and the Avalon Foundation Professor of Humanities at Northwestern University, where he co-directs the Paris Program in Critical Theory. His interdisciplinary work spans psychoanalysis, media studies, theatre theory, and deconstruction, with a focus on the Frankfurt School and French poststructuralism.

Weber’s research interrogates the politics of institutions (e.g., University and Discipline Formation), media’s role in identity construction, and theatricality as a structural metaphor for understanding modernity. His seminal works include Return to Freud, Institution and Interpretation, and Benjamin’s Abilities, where he explores iterability and Benjamin’s conceptual style.

He has translated foundational texts by Jacques Derrida (Limited Inc) and Theodor Adorno (Prisms), and co-founded the journal Glyph, instrumental in introducing the Bakhtin circle to the West. His career bridges academia and practice, having worked extensively as a dramaturge in German opera houses.