ORIENTALISM MATTERS.

An essay is presented on the significance of Orientalism when studying representations of otherness at present. In the book "Orientalism: History, Theory, and the Arts," author John Mackenzie claimed that Orientalism celebrates cultural proximity, historical parallelism and religious familiarity instead of true Otherness. The author believes that Orientalism must be understood as a network of aesthetic, economic and political relationships that cross national and historical boundaries.