míové

Míové is a fictional term used in speculative fiction and world-building to denote a social-technical system for the preservation and exchange of communal memory. In the in-world language, mi- is interpreted as memory and -ové as an adjective-forming suffix, yielding a label that roughly translates to memory-related practices or institutions.

The míové system encompasses practices, institutions, and technologies that together archive the histories, knowledge, and norms of a community. Core components include mnemonic exchanges, oral histories, ritual storytelling, and distributed archival repositories maintained by local councils or community stewards. Archives may exist in physical forms such as communal libraries and in digital nodes connected by a mesh-like network, designed to be resilient against data loss or disruption.

Practices associated with míové emphasize collective recall, consent-based sharing, and decentralized curation. Communities may hold regular Memory Nites or storytelling gatherings during which participants encode experiences, ecological knowledge, and cultural narratives into the archives. The intended outcomes are stronger social cohesion, informed decision-making, and preservation of cultural identity across generations and migrations.

In fictional scholarship and world-building literature, míové is discussed as an example of memory culture and as a thought experiment about how societies manage knowledge over time. Debates often address governance, privacy, and the risk of selective memory, balanced against the perceived resilience and identity-building benefits of shared memory.

See also: collective memory, memory culture, oral tradition, digital archiving.

References: fictional glossaries and world-building compendia.

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