The paper examines Edward Said's critique of Thomas Edward Lawrence view on Arabs and Arabian culture and society. On the one hand some of Said's allegations seems poorly grounded and can be deny with some excerpts from Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom. On the other hand Said doesn't remark serious shortcomings of Lawrence's outlook of intercultural relations.

The text begins with etymological reflections on the term “art” in various European languages and its numerous connotations. Five main basic meanings of the notion of art are enumerated and described, such as: disposition for action, this very action, the realm of life consisting of some kind of actions, the rules of action, and the results of action. Subsequently, two main traditional purposes of artistic actions are indicated and characterized, which are beauty and reality. This pair of notions implies four kinds of artistic creation: aesthetic/anti-aesthetic mimetism/ antimimetism. The term of mimetism can be applied both to the imitation of nature, as well as to the imitation of preceding artists. In the latter interpretation, a different classification appears: classical/original mimetism/antimimetism. Next, Maria Gołaszewska’s definition of contemporary art is discussed in the light of previous analysis. In the conclusion of the essay the final characteristic of contemporary art is presented with a quote from Arthur Rimbaud’s poem, as “absolutely modern”.

The article contains a multifaceted analysis of Jan Kochanowski's poem “Zuzanna” in a comparative approach to the biblical prototype. Maintaining the conclusions of previous researchers stating the classicization that Kochanowski subjected the original story, the article clarifies the opinions formulated so far too univocally by examining the plot layer, the structure of the presented world, and in particular the characters, the manner of narration and the stylistic layer. In conclusion, it is stated that the humanistic consciousness influences the way the characters are built and the narrative (which has not been noticed so far), although at the same time the versification refers to a certain extent to the medieval poem.