Ryan Poll, Northeastern Illinois University

Sacred Modes of Attention: Simone Weil and Frank Capra in the Attention Economy

Ryan Poll, Associate Professor of English, Northeastern Illinois University

The working-class philosopher Simone Weil defines attention as a form of prayer. What does it mean to recognize attention as a sacred faculty and what is more, to practice attention as a sacred discipline in everyday life? This paper begins to explore these complex questions by reading Weil’s meditations on attention in dialogue with her historical contemporary, Frank Capra, with a particular focus on It’s a Wonderful Life. In the wake of the Great Depression and totalitarianism, both Weil and Capra recognize attention as a sacred practice that is essential to creating a better world, especially for the working-class majority.

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About the Religion and Culture in the Americas Seminar Series

The Religion and Culture in the Americas Seminar explores topics in religion and culture including social history, biography, cultural studies, visual and material culture, urban studies, and the history of ideas. We are interested in how religious belief has affected society, rather than creedal or theological focused studies. The Religion and Culture in the Americas Seminar is co-sponsored by the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame, the McGreal Center at Dominican University, the History Department at Loyola University, the University of Chicago Divinity School, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Wheaton College.

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