Literary Theory

I am not aware of this term or it's meaning... I know that Literate is best at the Classic deffinition. Current literature I do of know could be poetry. That interests me somewhat. Reading up on genre magazine of this title is a good way to learn who writes and how they do it. What is the meaning of: Theory in literary terms?

Literary theory is definitely is relevant today. This is how I see things. Study of literature is essentially a branch of philosophy, because literature is a form of art. Analysis of any art will draw disciplines from philosophy. To elaborate, lets pick two genres of fiction:Romanticism and Determinism.
In my head thse two are near opposites. I'll just give a very short and reductionist definition of these two genres here. In works of fiction belonging to the romantic genre the protagonists are ideal human beings who triumph over great odds. In deterministic works the heroes are ideal but they fail to triumph in the end.
Wheather a person likes romanticism or determinism is dependent on his very sense of life. A person who likes romantic works of fiction views man as a heroic being and is also likely to beleive that he himself can beat all odds and write his own destiny. On the other hand, a person who prefers determinism is likely beleive man is incapable of fighting odds.

I hope I have made a coherent argument here. You have not written about what you think about literary theory. Do write.