The Immanence of the Sensory

Abstract

This article approaches the problem of immanence from the perspective of the sensory. It takes as its starting point chapter six of A. J. Greimas’ On Imperfection, entitled just that, “The Immanence of the Sensory.” Following the structure of said chapter, we review the theory of the four humors the author discusses. At that point, the problem of figurativeness consisting of the plastic and iconic dimensions arises. Figurativeness becomes one plane of the immanence of the text. Thus, the text and the sensory world it manifests may be seen as different folds of immanence. The concept of immanence, proposed by Hjelmslev and developed by Greimas, allows us to stratify language as the device for the “millefeuille” or “thousand plateaus” planes of which it consists. This makes it possible to associate immanence with semiotics, redefined as the immanence of the sensory world, with the notion of immanence from the philosophical perspective of Deleuze, including the Deleuzian concept of desire as opposed to pleasure, in that desire would fall on the vanishing lines constituting the process of immanence.