Exploring the role of affect in Yolŋu exchange

What do emotion terms matter to the study of Aboriginal sociality and exchange? The study of affect/emotion is often considered a speciality topic or focus in anthropology. However, in this article I argue that a consideration of terms and concepts associated with affect/emotion is critical to a fully nuanced appreciation of the way Yolŋu people consider value in material exchange. I seek to move away from prevailing approaches to the study of Aboriginal exchange in Australia, to focus on exchange relations as they are cast and constituted in local Yolŋu terms. Drawing on the key body of terms and concepts associated with affect and emotion in Gumatj (a Yolŋu language), I explore a number of case studies to show how they not only inform, but motivate and shape forms of exchange in unique and specific ways. What is part of the emotion lexicon in Gumatj, I argue, can also be seen as a partial template or schema of value. This template is similar to what Munn (1986) refers to as a generative schema or value template. This article is a preliminary exploration towards a local Yolŋu theory of value and exchange.