arrumaisarrumam

Arrumaisarrumam is a fictional term used in speculative fiction and tabletop role-playing contexts to describe a ritual practice of tidying and rearranging physical spaces as a communal activity that reinforces social harmony and personal well-being.

Etymology and usage: The term blends Portuguese roots arruma/arrumar with reduplication for emphasis, roughly translating as “tidy and tidying again.” It is presented as a coined concept rather than a historical practice, and its meaning can vary between works.

Origins and setting: The concept is attributed to fictional cultures in multiple works, and its precise origins are varied across texts. It commonly appears in communities facing environmental or social instability, where structured cleaning rituals help restore a sense of order and belonging.

Practices: Activities typically include cooperative cleaning of homes and shared spaces, reorganization of furniture and tools, ritual recitation or songs, and the reallocation of objects to new positions to symbolize new beginnings. Emphasis is often on cyclical routines rather than one-off cleans, with rituals sometimes aligned to seasonal or communal events.

Significance and reception: Critics and readers view arrumaisarrumam as a metaphor for resilience, adaptability, and collectivism. In imagined worlds, it can function as a cultural marker that distinguishes groups, as well as a narrative device to explore themes of order, memory, and community.

See also and references: In fiction studies, arrumaisarrumam is discussed alongside ritual cleanliness and domestic ritual practices; as a fictional construct, it has no real-world scholarly consensus and is analyzed within the context of specific works.