järgivus

Järgivus is a term used in Estonian-language contexts to denote a phenomenon by which memory, meaning, and history become embedded in places, objects, and routines, enabling communities to recall past events through material traces and communal practice. In this sense järgivus describes a mode of memory that persists beyond individual recollection and institutional record-keeping.

The word appears to be a contemporary neologism; its exact origins are uncertain. It seems to combine elements suggesting sequence or continuation with a noun-forming suffix, but it is not widely attested in standard dictionaries.

In fiction, järgivus is used as a world-building device: landscapes, buildings, and artifacts act as mnemonic anchors that guide characters' understanding of history. In cultural studies, it is used to discuss how memory is produced, maintained, and contested within communities through rituals, place-names, and inherited practices. It can highlight tension between official narratives and local memory, and between erasure and revival of heritage.

Because järgivus is a niche, largely speculative term, there is no single canonical definition or corpus. It is discussed in some essays on memory, space, and identity and appears in Estonian-language speculative fiction as a conceptual tool. Related concepts include collective memory, memory ecology, place attachment, and heritage studies.