Enjoy the Communist Party Valentine's found by a former student of mine last year, while you think of if Valdimir Putin, as returned president of Russia, has a Soviet-style Cult of Personality following today in Russia.
The Telegraph (UK) reported last November, that:
One in four Russians believe country is mired in Vladimir Putin cult of personality
The number of Russians who believe the country is in the grip of a Soviet-style cult of personality centred around Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, has more than doubled in the last six years, a poll has shown.
The poll, conducted by the independent Levada Centre, comes as Mr Putin
prepares to return to the Russian presidency next May
for a controversial third term amid signs that he sees himself as a Charles De
Gaulle father-of-the-nation like figure.
The survey was conducted last month and revealed that exactly one quarter of
Russians believe that such a cult does exist, while a further thirty per cent
said they saw increasing signs that such a cult was emerging.
The findings reflect a big swing in public opinion.
In 2004 when Mr Putin was president only ten per cent of those asked said
they thought that a cult of personality had grown up around him.
Since then, Mr Putin's dominance of state TV and of the country's political
life has only grown however, and his supporters have been increasingly vocal
about casting him as the man who saved Russia from the chaotic 1990s and
restored national pride.
_______________
Some examples:
Putin targeted Virgin voters in this 2012 campaign ad. One Minute News' story above, full version of ad below.
So is Putin following akin to the Stalin legacy that still lingers in parts of the post-communist Russian world?
Read this article from The Economist from 2003, and blog your thoughts.
Still Mourning Stalin?
_______________
Some examples:
Putin targeted Virgin voters in this 2012 campaign ad. One Minute News' story above, full version of ad below.
Ken Wedding (in 2010) posted this compilation of the Cult of Putin that is still
going strong in Russia, even if the economy is not:
Karmin Tomlinson, who teaches in Oregon City, OR, sent along these hints
for understanding part of the Putin mystique.
Or how about Такого как Путин /
One Like Putin (English subtitles)?
If you want 28 seconds of The Putin Girls (just the song): I want a
man like Putin
And here are the translated lyrics for "I Want a Man Like Putin"
My boyfriend is in trouble again,
He got into a fight and got stoned on something,
I am sick of him and so I told him, 'get out of here',
And now I want a man like Putin.
A man like Putin, full of energy,
A man like Putin who doesn't drink,
A man like Putin who wouldn't hurt me,
A man like Putin who wouldn't run away from me.
I saw him in the news yesterday,He was saying the world was at the
crossroads,
It's easy with a man like him at home or out and about,
And now I want a man like Putin.
"Here's another music video: Putin forever - Путин
навсегда
And yet another: Putin
"the legend"
How about a blog
entry on the Putin Cult?
_______________So is Putin following akin to the Stalin legacy that still lingers in parts of the post-communist Russian world?
Read this article from The Economist from 2003, and blog your thoughts.
Still Mourning Stalin?
12 comments:
I believe Putin is exhibiting a cult of personality. Similar to stalin he is portraying himmself through propaganda and varius ads as a verry grandios figure head. Then like stalin he is taking contoll of russia and his oposition just seems to dissapear as he is now in his third term.
I’ll have to agree with Cameron, although his Cabinet denies affiliation to the techno song that glorifies Putin, it supports the argument that he acts as the epitomizing icon of Russia. From the statistics presented, it’s obvious to the People that they’re not the ones keeping Putin in office. The fact seems to stand that Putin has an overwhelmingly amount of influence in the politics of Russia. That being said, after reading the article it almost seems logical for the People NOT to do anything about the situation. I mean, Putin in a sense can be viewed as Stalin’s revival, the hero that can bring his state to its former glory in the political world. It is quite possible that the citizens really do want “ a man like Putin.”
One question I do have is over the matter of xenophobia. Why would it be common for citizens to be suspicious of other nations? Does that tie into the fact that many Western nations practice democracy?
Firstly, I think the Putin cult of personality propaganda is absolutely hilarious. From my own opinion, I'd never be able to trust a man to run my country if he promoted himself using techno music videos and debatably-pedophilic TV ads--I could never take him seriously. However, the Russians seem to translate this as a confident, charismatic leader who will bring their country the respect and pride it used to have under Stalin.
Additionally, on the Stalin article, I am pretty puzzled by the Russian glorification of the Stalin era, especially as their younger generations are trying to move forwards. I suppose I understand that they had more respect and greater technological advancements, which is laudable, but it killed millions in the process and caused so many so much hurt. From a social and humanitarian standpoint, the rest of the world could never look favorably upon them if a Stalin-esque type reign were to return. I guess my only analogy for this is the construction of the Great Wall of China. All people see is the glory (and tourist attraction) that is this massive, ancient landmark, but nobody seems to remember that over the centuries it took to build it, almost 6 million people died. People are more willing to overlook maltreatment if it brought them respect, I guess.
I think think Putin cult of personality is a clear example of why Russians still consider the Stalin Era to be the Golden Era. People want leaders who establish legitimacy and power, not leaders who attract virgins through phony songs. Its kinda easy to say that they are kinda digging their own grave and ruining their own reputation by supporting to us, comical leaders.
I think Putin's cult of personality is clearly shown through his various uses of propoganda, shown on the blog post. I can't take anyone seriously who feels the need to make himself known and trusted through an awful techno music video or a slightly offensive commericial to get virgins to vote for him, which might be what some Russians are thinking, being exactly why they still consider the Stalin Era a time of glory.
It's really not surprising that Cults of Personality are forming around Russia's leaders through the forms of dance songs and adds targeted at virgin voters and all that other media creepiness because Russia has never had that political culture-- they seek in a national leader what we might seek in a leader for an election for student council president. As Taylor said, we may not be able to take it seriously for national leaders, but outside of politics and in our everyday worlds of school, entertainment, etc we very much look for charisma or confidence in the people we admire and choose to follow. Russia (due to a mixture of xenophobia and their past communist and isolationist world) has never truly been exposed to foreign political culture. At the end of the economist article, I didn't think the analogy with Germany was 100% well placed, because Russians don't so much have "collective responsibility" for crimes committed in the past and their continued stagnant state now, but rather are just faced with a collective ignorance that they aren't completely responsible for. (At least acknowledgement of the Cult of Personality around Putin is rising though).
It's really not surprising that Cults of Personality are forming around Russia's leaders through the forms of dance songs and adds targeted at virgin voters and all that other media creepiness because Russia has never had that political culture-- they seek in a national leader what we might seek in a leader for an election for student council president. As Taylor said, we may not be able to take it seriously for national leaders, but outside of politics and in our everyday worlds of school, entertainment, etc we very much look for charisma or confidence in the people we admire and choose to follow. Russia (due to a mixture of xenophobia and their past communist and isolationist world) has never truly been exposed to foreign political culture. At the end of the economist article, I didn't think the analogy with Germany was 100% well placed, because Russians don't so much have "collective responsibility" for crimes committed in the past and their continued stagnant state now, but rather are just faced with a collective ignorance that they aren't completely responsible for. (At least acknowledgement of the Cult of Personality around Putin is rising though).
I think Putin is definitely continuing the kind of political legacy that Stalin left behind, albeit in a more "modern" way. I guess it seems like the political leaders of Russia are an integral part of their culture, and Russian society seems to have a cultural reliance on having a strong leader to look up to. I think in this sense, it's not necessarily that they like Putin in particular, but just that Russians need a visible figure to have in front of them. Definitely a cult of personality thing going on here with Putin, though, that he seems to be doing on purpose.
I'd definitely agree with those before me who have said that Putin definitely does exhibit a cult of personality... The Telegraph article definitely explained the extent of it as it said food items like canned vegetables and vodka were being named after him, not to mention the Army of Putin female fan club (creepy?). I guess this goes to show the transitional state that the political culture in Russia is going through right now. I feel like some people are trying to grab onto Putin as a leader or celebrity of sorts because they're all not really sure how government should be functioning given how much change and dishonesty Russia has been put through. I think the whole "celebrity" approach to Putin could in a sense be echoing the regard that people, at the time, held for Stalin in an effort to rekindle the perceived success/nationalism of the Stalin era.
There's definitely a cult of personality for Putin. His excessive and unorthodox use of propaganda, focusing on quite sexual themes prove it. Yet for some inexplicable reason, the Russian citizens are drawn to this, and seem to want someone like Putin as a leader. Perhaps this is because, as Cameron said, Putin is a bit similar to Stalin, in terms of the excessive power both had over Russia.
Putin puts on a cult of personality because at first he gains office the legitimate way but then he will use some back handed tricky way of staying in power. In a way he is like Stalin because he also gained power the right way, but then abused it entirely. Perhaps Putin will become power mad after so much time in office.
I think that Putin has been using his expanding cult of personality to make himself seem more relatable to his people. Even if its in a seemingly ridiculous way, he is still constantly infusing himself into the media and is a household name and face. He has charismatic legitimacy in the strongest form because he seems both relatable and accessible as well as stable. I think he mainly relates to Stalin because this appeals to a broken group of people.
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