Postmodern Personality Cults: A Comparative Analysis of Visual Leader Representations in Russia and the US
Authors:   , Sundahl Anne-Mette 
Published: September 2023

<p><strong>This study examines the nature of personality cults in a postmodern context where the internet, smartphones and social media have changed communication methods and the broader socio-political environment. The existing literature on personality cults focus on elite interactions and propaganda which overlooks both the significant bottom-up cult contributions on social media, as well as how contemporary cult leaders’ self-portrayals differ in from those of their predecessors.</strong></p><p>While modern personality cults were relatively homogenous, centrally managed, and only occurred in totalitarian societies, postmodern personality cults are heterogenous and polysemantic. Using Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as cases, the study shows that as the leader has less control of the cult narrative, the cult public can both support and subvert the cult online, thus giving it power to define the cult.</p><p>As Trump relies heavily on Twitter and Putin disseminates his visual propaganda on his personal website, their official, top-down cults differ significantly in terms of platforms used to assert their charismatic claim. They do, however, both use nostalgia as pastiche, that is quilting different ideas and signifiers of the past into a contemporary cult, to legitimize themselves. Putin uses historical, Soviet signifiers to evoke a bygone era of Russian greatness, while Trump makes nostalgic appeals surrounding rural and industrial America in lieu of the civil religious appeals that he against tradition has neglected for personalized power.</p><p>Both official cults are further motivated by attention-seeking behaviour. Due to the closed nature of the societies in which modern cults occur, the visual public space was easily managed. Given the rapid flow of information today, the postmodern cult leaders contrarily fight for attention. Putin seeks attention through sexualized displays of power by for instance riding bare-chested, while Trump attempts to remain in the news headlines – whether for good or bad. These different strategies to some extent reflect the platforms they use as Trump benefits from always being online and able to disseminate content instantly.</p><p>What clearly distinguishes Trump and Putin from their modern predecessors is, however, the unofficial bottom-up cult contributions. This study examines these contributions through memes and paraphernalia, which highlight both the irony and the capitalist, consumer-focused aspect of postmodern cults. The unofficial cult contributions’ ambiguity means that they appeal to both genuine supporters and opponents of the leader. Even if people engage with the cult negatively, they confirm the leader’s charismatic authority. In addition to infuriating genuine supporters, and thus reinforcing their cult commitment, it confirms the charismatic’s special status and plays into his attention-seeking behaviour. Polarizing images further elicit stronger emotions which makes them valuable as cult images. The unofficial cult images additionally use pop cultural references which contribute to the widespreadness of the cult and create cult engagement from people who are otherwise disinterested in politics.</p><p>The unofficial images disseminated on various online platforms are additionally becoming contested battlegrounds where people define themselves and the (cult) community. The community uses endorsements, like up- and downvotes, as well as “snitching” to regulate itself. Individuals showcase their membership of the cult community by using inside jokes, phrases, and signs. By defining itself, the cult community similarly identifies the “other”. In the Putin cult, the othering targets the West, whereas the Trump cult involves othering of Democrats and liberals.</p><p>Being part of the cult is consequently not merely a personal matter. It is highly social. The othering and attempts at antagonizing the “others” show that the cult public validates the leader’s charismatic claim by adopting his polarizing worldviews. Lastly, namely the cult community’s reviews of Trump paraphernalia on Amazon showed that the postmodern cult leader becomes a commodity that can be consumed, reviewed, and discarded. Both Trump and Putin have become products consumed and used by people to express their own identity and agency.</p><p>These findings entail that personality cults are no longer restricted to non-democratic settings as evident from the emergence of a personality cult in the US. Second, while personality cults remain evidence of charismatic authority and are signs of personalized power accumulation, their existence no longer entail lack of opposition or public deliberation – these subverting sentiments in fact form the core of postmodern personality cults.</p>