Jövkép

Jövkép is a coined Hungarian term used in discussions of futures studies, strategic planning, and speculative fiction to denote a mental image of a possible future. It refers to a vivid, envisioned scenario that a person or group uses to guide decision-making or storytelling.

Etymology: Jövkép is a portmanteau formed from jövő (future) and kép (image). It appears mostly in contemporary Hungarian discourse rather than in traditional dictionaries, and it is not a standardized term in academic usage. Its exact meaning can vary among speakers and contexts.

Usage: In foresight and design thinking, a jövkép helps articulate preferred futures and can be used in workshops to align goals or explore implications of different trajectories. In fiction or journalism, it serves as a descriptive device to convey a plausible path forward. Because it is relatively new and informal, its interpretation is not fixed and may differ between authors and practitioners.

Terminology notes: It should not be confused with jövőkép, an established Hungarian term meaning a vision of the future. Jövkép is a newer or more informal variant and is less likely to appear in formal writing. In many contexts, writers simply use jövőkép to express the idea, while jövkép may appear in discussions of language use or neologisms.

References: There are limited scholarly sources specifically on jövkép; the term appears mainly in online essays, blogs, and discussions on futures thinking and speculative writing. No widely cited dictionary entry confirms a fixed definition.