Personality Cult refers to a situation in which a public figure (such as a political or charismatic leader) is deliberately seen as an idealized, heroic icon worthy of unquestioning praise, admiration and veneration. Also commonly known as cult of personality, it arises when a country’s government or people in any sort of power or authority employ the mass media, propaganda, spectacle, the arts, patriotism, and government-organized demonstrations and rallies to create an idealized, heroic, and worshipful image of a leader, often through totalising flattery and praise. Closely related to apotheosis, the term was popularised in 1956 in Nikita Khrushchev’s secret speech On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, in which he criticized the deification of Joseph Stalin, and his Communist ally Mao Zedong, as being contrary to Marxist doctrine. The speech was later made public and was instrumental to the “de-Stalinization” of the Soviet Union. Politically, personality cult is a common feature of totalitarian and authoritarian governments.
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The Visual Culture and Heritage Research Group, University of Nigeria, Nsukka Conference CALL FOR PAPERS Politics, Religion and Personality Cult in Postcolonial Africa
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