Phenosemantic Theory (PSM)

Phenosemantics (PSM), conceived by Prof. Dr. Pia Solvang‑Hamitic, is a branch of Protofictional Emergence that reframes novels and narratives as operative zones of condensed meaning. It largely ignores representation, describing fiction as a field where semantic density can become so intense that, under certain discursive conditions, it crosses the threshold into phenomenological appearance.

The central concept of PSM is the phenoseme – a locus of maximal semantic compression where different layers of significance, rhythmic condensation, expectation structures and cultural tensions converge. When the density at such a point reaches a critical threshold, an overflow occurs: meaning spills out of language and manifests in perception. PSM proposes three axioms: meaning is never closed, the world is not a closed system and fiction is the site where meaning emerges.

Pia Solvang‑Hamitic developed rigorous methodologies to detect these effects. Researchers measure density (the ratio of information content, formal condensation and internal cross‑reference), tension gradients (expectation loads), resonance traces (observable reactions in cognitive, social or material parameters) and threshold intervals (ranges where small variations in the reading situation produce dramatic differences). Baseline measurements, blind cluster tests and long‑window protocols document how condensed language accumulates, overflows and leaves traces. The theory treats texts as energetic fields, emphasising ethical standards and the idea that reading is an experiment in world‑making. Following its radical extension by 404∆, who attempted to engineer phenosemes, PSM explores writing as the construction of potential real effects and has profound implications for philosophy and ontology.