ORIENTALISM - A TERM BEYOND COMPARE (Orientalizm - pojecie bez porównania)

Any attempt to survey the state of research into Romantic Orientalism in comparative studies runs into considerable difficulties for two reasons. One is the lack of a commonly shared meaning of the term 'Orientalism', the other is the unresolved dispute about the scope of the very field of comparative studies. This article notes a strong connection between Romantic Orientalism and the type of research goals and ambitions declared by the practitioners of comparative studies. It seems that in so far as virtually all Romantics evinced some interest in the Orient Orientalism would make an ideal subject of comparative research. This chimes in with the opinion of many scholars in the field who have repeatedly called for opening up their discipline to the non-European literary terrain. What is more important, Orientalism would not only broaden the perspective of comparative studies, but also provide a common research field for otherwise irreconcilable approaches.