‘ENCHANTELL’

a sociopoetic gaze at the enchantment of encounter in the act of storytelling

Abstract

During the preparations for a Literary Immersion, called Storytelling Training, the word ‘enchantell’ emerged. This neologism stems from the fusion of three Brazilian Portuguese words: encontro (encounter), contar (to tell), and encantar (to enchant). What other meanings might this word hold? What are the powers and charms of an immersive gathering focused on literature and storytelling? These and other questions led us to co-construct various meanings. From a sociopoetic perspective, drawing on lived experiences and some techniques proposed by Jacques Gauthier (2015) and the research group itself, we understood that there is more than theory and practice, we realized that life and its poetics are deeply interconnected in the construction of knowledge. This can be manifested in different ways: through poems, songs, dances, words, drawings, and theorizing. Knowledge only becomes meaningful when it allows us to reinterpret aspects of our own existence. We were able to feel, with our whole being, how a literary work or a storytelling experience can support human development and shape who we are, how formation happens in the in-between spaces, in spontaneous experiences, and in what was not previously planned. Rather than providing answers, this article brings reflections, perceptions, discussions, and narratives about the lived experience: four days in a house immersed in nature, shared by eleven teachers and the full vitality of their lives and relationships. A brief journey that, although initially conceived as part of a planned training, could not encompass all dimensions of a sociopoetic research process. What matters, though, is that we allowed ourselves to experience it, even if partially. And from this small fragment, our perception of each moment of the immersion was profoundly transformed.