Arengulist

Arengulist is a term used primarily within speculative fiction circles and certain online communities to describe a practitioner or advocate of arengulism, a fictional framework for analyzing cycles of renewal and disruption in social, cultural, or ecological systems. The word appears to be a neologism formed by attaching the standard agentive suffix -ist to the invented root areng-, with no established connection to real-world languages. Its exact origin is not well documented, and usage is largely confined to fan wikis, worldbuilding forums, and role-playing game discussions.

In practice, an arengulist is expected to study or promote ideas of restoration, resilience, and renewal, often through imagined rituals, institutions, or methodologies designed to sustain a community through upheaval. In worldbuilding contexts, arengulists may be depicted as scholars, ritualists, or policy advisors who guide cultural continuity after disaster or during liminal periods. The concept is often employed as a narrative tool to explore how societies tolerate and adapt to change.

Within criticism and meta-writing, arengulists are used to analyze how renewal themes are treated in a setting or to critique the portrayal of transformation. The term remains a niche label, with no widely recognized real-world equivalents, and there are no known prominent figures who identify as arengulists. It tends to occur primarily in speculative forums and fiction-focused discourse.

See also: neologism, fictional occupations, worldbuilding.