‘Are my brothers fucking your sister?’ Shaming and being (a)shamed in a Sepik society

Abstract

Some months after being verbally abused by his wife in a domestic quarrel, an Awiakay man died. One of the rumours that circulated about his death was that it was caused by his having been so badly shamed. The Awiakay people of East Sepik Province in Papua New Guinea use the same verb root, munjoko‐, to express what translates into English as both ‘feeling shame’ and ‘feeling fear’. Based on video recordings and verbatim transcripts of a number of domestic and intra‐village fights, as well as subsequent discussions with all involved parties, this article examines the ways the Awiakay people use their language to shame one another and tries to explain why they are afraid of being (a)shamed.

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