Dr. Yiftach Ashkenazi is a respected literary scholar and published author, currently serving as a postdoctoral fellow at the DHSS Hub, under the supervision of Prof. Adia Mendelson-Maoz. Holding a PhD in Hebrew Literature from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Dr. Ashkenazi's academic endeavors focus on the intricate relationships between literature, ethics, and cultural studies; especially within the sphere of Hebrew literature and Israeli culture.
His forthcoming book Israeli Literature in 2008 (the Bialik Institute, 2023) exemplifies his scholarly expertise. Dr. Ashkenazi's research articles, including “The emergence of Arab characters in 1960s Israeli canonical prose and the rise of the Israeli creative class" (Historical Materialism, 2024), and “Comparative literature in Israel: Western orientation vs. Southern future" (Hong Kong University Press, 2023), have made significant contributions to the field. His editorial expertise is evident in his role of coeditor for the collections The Essayistic Choice (Bar Ilan University Press, 2022) and A Sort of Solution to Silence: Modern Arab Literature in Hebrew (New World Press, 2018).
His current project, "Computational Stylistic Profiles for the Analysis of Modern Hebrew Prose" is a groundbreaking research initiative in digital humanities. This project aims to employ computational stylometry to explore the concepts of collective poetics and literary communities within Hebrew prose. By leveraging distant reading techniques, it seeks to replace traditional selective reading methods, offering a comprehensive computational analysis.