Kommunikáció és rítusnyelv: "személyi kultusz" és kommunista nyelvhasználat
Communication and Ritual Language: "Cult of Personality" and the Communist Political Language

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the ritualisation of language and communication in Stalinist Hungary in the 1950s through analyzing term ‘cult of personality’ in communist political language. It is argued that the term was an important verbal component of Stalinist denunciation rituals, and its use in political rituals contributed to the semantic uncertainties related to the notion. Since traditional conceptual history that focuses on the major texts of Marxist political thought cannot account for the semantic emptiness of the concept, an analysis of the ritual function of term ‘cult of personality’ would contribute to a better understanding of the role and significance of the concept in communist dictatorships. Such an approach would also enhance our understanding of the relationship of the term and the actual phenomenon of the leader cult during the period of Stalinism.

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