In literary and cultural studies these days there is a lot of talk about theory- not theory of literature. mind you just plain theory. To anyone outside the field, this usage must seem very odd. Theory of what?' you want to ask. It's surprisingly hard to say. It is not the theory of anything in particular, nor a comprehensive theory of things in general. Sometimes theory seems less an account of anything than an activity-something you do or don't do. You can be involved with theory: you can teach or study theory: you can hate theory or be afraid of it. None of this, though, helps much to understand what theory is.