“Where All the People are Fantastical and Magical”—and Hurting: Intergenerational Trauma and Social-Emotional Learning in Encanto

I’m sorry I held on too tight. Just so afraid I’d lose you.” -Abuela Alma

Abate, M. A. (2024). “Where All the People are Fantastical and Magical”—and Hurting: Intergenerational Trauma and Social-Emotional Learning in Encanto. Children’s Literature in Education,55(2), 295-312.

This essay argues that, together with presenting a multigenerational family, Disney’s Encanto explores the issue of intergenerational trauma. The forced displacement, chaos, and violence that the protagonist’s Abuela experienced became the source of her family’s incredible magical powers, but also that of their equally intense personal pain. Although Encanto is ostensibly an exploration of Mirabel’s search for identity, the film can just as accurately be seen as an exploration of the impact of intergenerational trauma, especially among immigrant families and within communities of color. In so doing, the animated film serves as a productive tool for social-emotional learning. Encanto gives young people the opportunity to examine the way that events from a family’s past can impact individuals in the present. Even more importantly, it encourages them to consider how they can manage adverse emotions in healthy ways. [Abstract by Author]