Elena Ceauşescu’s personality cult and Romanian television
Elena Ceauşescu, spouse of the Romanian communist leader Nicolae Ceauşescu, generated in the 1980s a gigantic homage industry, as she was the object of a personality cult as strong as that of her husband’s. This paper briefly outlines the origin and elements of Nicolae Ceauşescu’s personali...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institute for Balkan Studies SASA
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Balcanica |
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| Online Access: | http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-7653/2017/0350-76531748343S.pdf |
| Summary: | Elena Ceauşescu, spouse of the Romanian communist leader Nicolae Ceauşescu,
generated in the 1980s a gigantic homage industry, as she was the object of a
personality cult as strong as that of her husband’s. This paper briefly
outlines the origin and elements of Nicolae Ceauşescu’s personality cult, to
focus then on Elena Ceauşescu’s cult: how at first it was merged with the
cult of her husband, her being a mere companion of the head of state, and
then grew to the point of paralleling that of Nicolae Ceauşescu during the
last years of communist rule in Romania. The second part focuses on the
evolution of Romanian state television and its crucial role in the diffusion
of her personality cult, showing how this state institution became completely
subordinated to the presidential couple in the 1980s, and pointing to a
paradox of the period: the shorter Romanian television’s daily broadcasting
time, the larger the amount of programming on Ceauşescu. Finally, the paper
shows how January was infused with anniversary dates meant to consolidate the
personality cult of the presidential couple and to reinvent communist
traditions. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and
Technological Development, Grant no. 178010: Language, folklore, migrations] |
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| ISSN: | 0350-7653 2406-0801 |