An essay by Linh Le

The paper traces back to the formation of Hồ Chí Minh’s cult of personality in which his self-appellation of Bác or Uncle characterizes how his cult would be maintained and perceived. Every cult has two main elements: form and content.

If form is what makes people start worshiping a figure, ritual is its signifier through different modes of solemnisations. The paper proceeds to explore the solemnisations of Hồ’s cult through public monuments – Ba Đình square, and different archetypes ascribed to his image in the practice of propaganda images.

An essay by Vicky Do

I was inspired by Jacques Ellul’s arguments on the characteristics of propaganda. Firstly, I look at the collection of propaganda posters from Dogma, and systematically align them with each characteristic. The essay starts with introduction of power relation and the structure of control through hard and soft powers. Hard powers include the distribution of space, the use of surveillance and punishment. Soft powers include the use of education, the arts and communication.

In order for propaganda to succeed, the propagandist needs to keep in mind that he is now wishing to influence a mass of people in both sociological and psychological periphery. Propaganda needs to be total, continuous, and be strategised by the propaganda organisation. The propagandist also has to possess a correct psychological knowledge of the mass, their sentiments and understand his task in creating the messages that sync with the current socio-political happening with his spectators.