Simplifications brings to the Indian reader a comprehensive overview of Western literary theory of the post-1960s. A compendium of the dominant trends of the period, it introduces the reader to the thoughts and the ideas of important thinkers like Saussure, Lacan, Foucault, and Derrida, among others. To introduce the readers to the existing body of work in the field, the book discusses the writings of Freud and Heidegger and a few other book discusses the writings of Freud an Heidegger and a few other thinkers. Saussure’s Linguistics… and the subsequent development stemming from it, which influenced Western literary are dealt with at length. There is also a brief exposition of pre-Saussurian philosophy.

One of the unique features of the book is the illustration of the various concepts discussed with reference to Shakespeare’s Hamlet especially in the sections of Lacan, Foucault and Derrida. The book also gives a brief introduction to the post -colonial theory and the questions of politics, structuralism. Post- structuralism and post-colonialism and is a valuable reference for post-graduate students of literature and the social sciences and anyone who is interested in the subject.