Caltrop Matrix of Identity
cynicism of face factors make face less serious and profound a term representing the moral
and emotional sincerity than the cultivable and sustainable identity (Tracy & Naughton,
1994). Compared to self and face, identity has the connotation implicative of the
commonalities of committed groups, organization, institutions, or other types of
communities. Such connotative aspect of identity could be represented by the term of
membership. Membership in its sense of group identity represents a very important category
of relationship in addition to kinship, friendship, fellowship, and companionship.
Connotatively, identity suggests the meaning of membership, which defines culture in the
sense of specific community (Hall, 1992 & 2005). But we can hardly connect face and self to
membership by simply encoding some terms such as “group self” or “group face.” The
interchangeability between identity and some of the cultural terms does not imply anything to
discredit the values of the other concepts but rather accentuates the interconnections of
identity with these terms. In this respect, identity just stands out to be a relatively prominent
concept.
The multifaceted nature of identity – From individuality to globality
In an individualistic culture such as most of the Western cultures, identity has been
regarded as a fixed sense of self demarcating the Other (Eisenberg, 2001). Identity serves as
an important device in constructing the Other. Individuality and individualism are
emphasized and worshiped in such individualistic cultures for their seemingly connections to
personal achievements and creativity within the legalized sense of security. So identity
insomuch becomes discrete and separate, even though it can be applied to multiple levels of
6
Convention