Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
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 theoretical description 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.