ABSTRACT
Synontology is characterized by the confluence of two ontological states: that which features the fictional entity, and that which features the fictional entity's non-fictional manifestation. This chapter focuses on a particular grove within the vast forest of actualized fictions: locale-related entities that exist at ontological interstices, and thereby form synontological spaces. While the construction of synontological spaces involves actions that are simple – erecting plaques, building monuments, remodeling stores, and digitally representing locales are straightforward undertakings – the implications are complex, because they require reader interaction at the confluence of two ontological states. The cognitive underpinnings of synontology are flexibility and dissonance. Cognitive flexibility is at play in synontological spaces, as one must almost simultaneously hold two ontological perspectives. Synontology that results from a reader's interaction with a fictional entity beyond the text wherein that entity originates requires action that is more often than not social in nature.
