Abstract: Literary theories are epistemological truth/prescriptions or principles on literature. The reception of literature calls for not only implicit understandings so as to achieve its realization in individuals, but also a reinvention in the epistemological arena, e. g. a rational construction concerning the interactions between literature and society, cognition as well as ideology. The major epistemological attributes of literary theories are being non-empirical, describable, interpretative and parasitic. Literary theories are non-empirical knowledge, because their major concerns are human souls, values and significances; literary theories are describable knowledge because as reflections on literature and related areas, they are conveyed by languages, which is comprenhensible; literary theories are parasitic because they do not always invent themselves — on the contrary, they are heavily dependent on knowledge of other disciplines. Parasitism, a limitation at first sight, actually tells us more about the uniqueness of this epistemological field.

Key words: literary theories, epistemology, the non-empirical, interpretation, parasitism