ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Susana Rinderle examines five different identifying signifiers used by Mexican diaspora groups and their implications for intercultural research. She used the following six defining characteristics of diasporic culture as a theoretical framework for her study: (1) a history of physical displacement; (2) cultural dislocation and hybridity; (3) a yearning for the homeland; (4) structural displacement and a complex structural relationship between nation-state and diaspora; (5) alienation from the hostland; and (6) a collective identity largely defined by the relationship between homeland and hostland. She ascertains that different Mexican diaspora groups use the five identifying signifiers (i.e., Mexican/mexicano, Mexican American, Chicano/a, Hispanic, and Latinos) to communicate cultural identifications, social affiliations, and political consciousness. Rinderle’s study suggests that traditional intercultural research has denied Mexican diasporas part of their identity and humanity as it forces people with multiple and continuous identities into one inflexible category. She recommends that intercultural researchers should (1) be sensitive to the complexity and multiplicity of identities of the participants, (2) adopt the dialectical approach to analyzing intercultural interactions involving Mexican diaspora, and (3) employ a participant-centered position and allow participants’ self-categorizations.
