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In standard English, the word ‘shame’ typically refers to fear of judgement, low self-esteem, a sense of inadequacy or having done something objectionable or degrading. By contrast, in many Australian Indigenous languages, the words that best approximate the meaning of the English ‘shame’ refer to somewhat different feelings. Apart from the fear of being judged by others, they tend to also evoke shyness, i.e. fear of others independent of one’s own action; the desire to avoid being seen or otherwise exposed to others’ scrutiny; as well as respect for others with socially prominent status. This constellation of attitudes and feelings is culturally salient, and can influence how people behave and operate socially to a significant extent.

Shame as an intellectual emotion

By far the strongest body-part association with this constellation of emotions is the head. This may be because the sense of ‘shame’ in the above definition derives from social awareness, which itself pertains to understanding and intelligence. And, in at least some Australian Indigenous languages, the head is treated as one of the loci of intellection (as is the case in English and many other languages). Many of the shame metaphors involving the head remain opaque, but those that aren’t tend to simply assign the feeling of shame or embarrassment to the head. This is illustrated in Wik Mungkan (Cape York), where kuchek nyaa' ‘head touchy, ashamed, embarrassed, frightened’ means ‘be ashamed’.

Shame and avoidance behaviors

Other body parts marginally associated with shame are those which may be involved in behaviors related to shame. In Yidiny for instance (Cape York), jili gunda(l), literally ‘eye cut’, means ‘make someone look away by staring at them and making them ashamed’. With the nose, expressions like ‘nose down’ can also express shame, invoking a bodily posture people adopt to avoid interactions. Similarly, the back maps onto shame because people turn their back on others to avoid being seen, or to avoid the shame felt with respect to taboo kin relationships.

The value of self-assertion

Although shame is a negative emotion, in the sense that it is not enjoyable for the person who experiences it, it is nevertheless socially encouraged amongst many Australian groups. Conversely, reserve, humility and respect are culturally valued. This is not to say, however, that self-assertiveness is always dismissed. Many Australian Indigenous languages have expressions that associate self-assertiveness with positive attributes such as bravery, persistence and so on. Such expressions occur with the head, forehead and nose, as well as with the belly and heart. They are often expressed in terms of hardness or strength metaphors, where a hard or strong body part represents self-assertiveness. In Dalabon, for instance, kangu-murduk ‘belly hard/strong’ can be used to describe someone who is emotionally strong and not afraid to stand up for themselves. Therefore, whilst hardness is a negative attribute in the context of describing sympathy, it takes on a positive symbolism with respect to self-confidence.

References

Dixon, Robert. Words of our country: Stories, place names and vocabulary in Yidiny, the language of the Cairns/Yarrabah region. St Lucia, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 1991.

Kilham, Christine, Mabel Pamulkan, Jennifer Pootchemunka, and Topsy Wolmby. Wik Mungkan-English interactive dictionary. AuSIL Interactive Dictionary Series A-6, Australian Society for Indigenous Languages, 2017. Retrieved from http://ausil.org/Dictionary/Wik-Mungkan/lexicon/mainintro.html.

Ponsonnet, Maïa. The language of emotions: The case of Dalabon (Australia). Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Co., 2014.