Caltrop Matrix of Identity
ABSTRACT:
Enlightened by the unique crystalline shape of the iron caltrop, Caltrop Matrix of
Identity (CMI) can visualize the composition of identity properties and the process of
identification. CMI can be employed as an analytical device to help observers and researchers
make sense of intercultural identity issues in a holistic way. The elaboration of CMI in the
current paper includes three sections: 1. a literature review of identity related concepts,
principles, theories, and metatheoretical perspectives in intercultural communication studies;
2. a descriptive demonstration of CMI in terms of identity’s structural properties and dynamic
rules; 3. an interpretive application of CMI in the causal analysis of the mistreatments of
ethnic Chinese in some ethnic riots occurred in Southeast Asia and South Pacific areas.
The present essay is an attempt to conceptualize identity as a complexity construct for
2
Convention