occidentale

Occidentale is an Italian adjective meaning western, relating to the Occident, or the Western world, as opposed to the Orient. It derives from Latin words associated with the setting sun, reflecting an old directional metaphor for the west. In Italian, the noun Occidente (the West) and the adjective occcidentale are used to describe people, regions, cultures, or things linked to Western traditions.

Geographically and culturally, the occidental sphere traditionally includes Europe and, in many contexts, the countries of the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand. The exact boundaries can vary by discipline and era, and the concept is often defined in relation to the East or the Orient. In historical terms, the Western world has been associated with Greco-Roman heritage, the Judaeo-Christian religious tradition, and the later developments of the Enlightenment and modern liberal democracies.

In practice, occidente is used across disciplines to categorize art, literature, philosophy, politics, and media as Western in origin or influence. Phrases like arte occidentale or letteratura occidentale identify works presumed to belong to Western cultural traditions. The term also appears in geopolitical and cultural discourse, where it is contrasted with non-Western societies.

Critically, scholars note that the category of the West is a constructed and evolving concept shaped by history, power relations, and globalization. It can obscure internal diversity or downplay cross-cultural exchanges, and its usage may reflect particular analytic or political perspectives rather than an objective division.

See also: Occidente, Oriente, Western world.