Elvina Ann Charly
Intergenerational trauma refers to how traumatic events faced by one generation affect the psychological and emotional wellbeing of subsequent generations, directly or indirectly. The phenomenon has been studied extensively in the descendants of holocaust survivors (Weiss & Weiss, 2000) and more recently in Native American and immigrant populations. A literature of intergenerational trauma in the Latinx community however, is lacking; owing to the absence of a common trauma (Cerdena et al., 2021).
Encanto (Merino & Spencer, 2021) is a Disney animated movie about a magical Colombian family’s journey towards healing their intergenerational trauma. The movie begins with the grandmother or Abuela Alma explaining the source of their family’s powers to a young protagonist- Mirabel. A Colombian civil war- possibly the 1899 War of the Thousand Days (Demarest, 2001)- forces Abuela Alma and her husband Abuelo Pedro to flee their homes with their new-born triplets and the rest of the community. The traumatic death of her husband in an encounter with marauders is painted as a heroic sacrifice that results in a magical candle gifting. The candle gives magical gifts to Abeula’s children and grandchildren when they turn five. Antonio, the youngest Madrigal is referred to as an ‘animal guy’ before receiving the gift of animal communication, which means that these gifts are reflective of each Madrigals’ interests and personality until that point.
Surrounding a grieving Alma and community, a mountain-enclosed magical refuge had emerged - a new home for the community. Abuela assumes a mayor-like role and utilises the gifts of her children Julieta, Bruno and Pepa and grandchildren Isabela, Dolores, Luisa, Mirabel, Camillo and Antonio, to build a new life for the community. However, while helpful to the town, these gifts often burden the characters and understandably so, as these are trauma-borne abilities. This warrants an exploration of the gifts and roles of the characters of Encanto through the lens of intergenerational trauma and trauma responses.
According to a protocol for trauma-informed-care by the US Centre for Substance Abuse Treatment (2014), people have various trauma responses and coping strategies in the face of a traumatic event, depending on the kind of resilience and social support they have. These response reactions may not be clinically significant for a trauma disorder diagnosis like PTSD, but can nonetheless be distressing to the individual. In Encanto, the magical house or the casita, would be a great source of support to Alma who raises her triplets all by herself. The 'encanto' or enchantment saved Abuela from experiencing too much distress, giving her the tools to take care of herself and the community through the gifts of her children.
The gifts each child received could be paralleled to Abeula’s possible trauma coping responses to the post-war and displacement situation. These trauma responses would be seen in her children and grandchildren simply by their recognition of the absence of such responses in Abuela and in their family, resulting in them taking up that role (Al Ubaidi, 2017). Common in Latin American narratives, the literary tool of magical realism (the matter-of-fact insertion of magical elements into a realistic story), is employed in Encanto – the trauma narrative becomes a magical one.
Weiss and Weiss (2000) describes two transmission mechanisms for intergenerational trauma- direct and indirect. Direct transmission is marked by the ‘projective identification’ of the survivor’s trauma by their offspring such that the survivor’s emotional distress and trauma memories become the offsprings’ ‘mental properties’. Alma’s daughter Pepa controls the weather with her mood, making ‘clear skies’ and thunderstorms. However, she has to go through the weather-corresponding mental states of mood, which is distressing and possibly a trauma response from having been raised by her grieving mother – as a child, she would have continuously consoled her mother. Having been alive as a new-born during the war and displacement, Pepa would have traumatic memory ‘stored as affective, sensory states’ without being able to verbally access her trauma and associated behaviours (van der Kolk et al., 2001).
Alma could be worried about the future of their family and community, having experienced a traumatic displacement. Bruno could have internalised these worries and as Alma’s only son, been expected to guide the family through an uncertain future. As a result, he receives the ability to look into the future, but with worry being the trauma response behind the gift, he mostly predicts the ways a situation could turn disastrous. The community, traumatised by their past, vilifies him for this. An epigenetic allusion can be made in the case of Pepa and Bruno, where the ‘gifts’ may be brought on by genetic changes due to trauma exposure in childhood, along with family expectations (Griffiths & Hunter, 2014). The portrayal of Pepa and Bruno as erratic characters, with dishevelled hair, dark eyebags and demeanour of apparent distress is consistent with findings of direct transmission in second generation members where they physically looked like they had gone through the primary trauma themselves (Weiss & Weiss, 2000).
Often seen in the generations born after the traumatic event, indirect trauma can be thought of as second-hand trauma, where the original trauma itself is not considered to be passed through the family. Its key characterization is the heavy burden of unconscious expectations from children in such families; a compensation for the traumatic losses of their parents. In Encanto, such indirect transmissions are seen in the third generation- Alma’s grandchildren. Luisa has super-strength, but she buckles under the weight of Abeula’s expectations– she has to look over the building and maintenance of the whole town. Isabela has Chlorokinesis, the ability to grow and manipulate flowers and plants with her mind. However, Abuela reduces her power utilisation to town beautification. She was expected to look and act perfect always, which she silently resented. Abuela tragically lost her old hometown and would do anything to make sure their new town operated perfectly, thereby putting heavy expectations on Isabela and Luisa- the beauty and the brawn who ensure a perfect town.
Additionally, their Uncle Bruno leaving the house was possibly traumatic to the third generation. It would remind them to always live up to Abuela’s expectations. In the song ‘We don’t talk about Bruno’ lies the crux of the Madrigal family’s problems. While they do talk about the primary trauma of war, loss and displacement, the trauma responses to the same are touted as superpowers and their burdening effect on the characters is not acknowledged. The characters have an emotional responsibility and loyalty to their family and the recovering community. Their own distresses take a backseat.
Mirabel was the one to break the cycle of generational trauma. This is consistent with the literature that says trauma transmission may extinguish by the third generation, marked by a willingness of survivors to communicate on these fronts with their grandchildren over their children (O’Neill, 2018). Mirabel confronted Abuela about the pressure of perfection she was putting on the family and how that weakened the encanto. Abuela finally recognizes how her trauma of loss had been inflicting harm on the family, illustrated by the lines “I’m sorry I held on too tight. Just so afraid I’d lose you too” in the finale song All of You (Miranda et al., 2021). In the process of healing, the family acknowledges that their trauma responses need to be re-framed, as evidenced by the lines- “but stars don’t shine, they burn… I think it's time you learn. You're more than just your gift “. The family recognises that their gifts are important to their identities, but are not identity-defining. They find common ground and encourage self-care(for Luisa) and self-expression(for Isabela and Pepa). The strengthening of their fading powers speaks to the fact that the scars caused and skills obtained through trauma are life-long baggage, which can be managed.
Encanto is thus a fantastic starting point for the portrayal of intergenerational trauma in children’s content. Magical realism is widely used in telling stories of trauma (Adams, 2011) and has even been used as a trauma therapy intervention for Hispanic children (de Rios, 1997). Encanto can be used in therapeutic settings to discuss intergenerational trauma with children and adults alike and can also be incorporated in clinical interventions of family or cultural trauma.
References
Adams, J. (2011). Magical Realism in Holocaust Literature: Troping the real. Palgrave Macmillian. doi: 10.1057/9780230307353
Al Ubaidi, B. (2017). Cost of Growing up in Dysfunctional Family. Journal of Family Medicine and Disease Prevention. 3:059. doi: 10.23937/2469-5793/1510059
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (US). Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2014). Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioural Health Services. Chapter 3, Understanding the impact of Trauma. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series. No. 57. .https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/
Cerdeña, J., Rivera, L., & Spak, J., (2021) Intergenerational trauma in Latinxs: A scoping review Social Science & Medicine, Volume 270,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113662
Demarest, G (2001). War of the Thousand Days. Small Wars and Insurgencies, 12:1, 1-30, doi: 10.1080/714005374
de Rios, M. D. (1997). Magical Realism: A Cultural Intervention for Traumatized Hispanic Children. Cultural Diversity and Mental Health, 3(3), 159–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.3.3.159
Griffiths, B., Hunter, R. (2014). Neuroscience forefront review neuroepigenetics of stress. Neuroscience. 275:420–435. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.06.041
Merino,Y., & Spencer,C. (2021). Encanto. [Film]. Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Miranda, L., Franco, G., Cast. (2021) All of You [Song]. On Encanto (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). Walt Disney Records.
O'Neill, L., Fraser, T., Kitchenham, A., & McDonald, V. (2016). Hidden Burdens: a Review of Intergenerational, Historical and Complex Trauma, Implications for Indigenous Families. Journal of child and adolescent trauma, 11(2), 173-186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-016-0117-9
van der Kolk, B., Hopper, J., & Osterman, J. (2001). Exploring the nature of traumatic memory: combining clinical knowledge with laboratory methods. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma. 4(2):9–31. doi: 10.1300/J146v04n02_02
Weiss, M., & Weiss, S.(2000). Second Generation to Holocaust Survivors. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 54(3), 372-385. doi:10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2000.54.3.372
Wowowowowow!! This was so interesting to read. I hope to see more from this writer.
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