Political leadership and its mythological component (on the example of V.V. Putin)

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POLITICAL LEADERSHIP AND ITS MYTHOLOGICAL COMPONENT (ON THE EXAMPLE OF V.V. PUTIN)

Dobrodum O.V.,

Sc. in Philosophy, Full Professor of Cultural Science and Social Department, Dragomanov National Pedagogical University (Kiev, Ukraine), Добродум О. В.,

This article explores the mythological component of political leadership using the example of Vladimir Putin. The interest in studying the canonization of rulers is justified in order to find the key to understanding the psychology and mentality of the people, the mythological and religious features of national life, as well as the nature of sacralization of a politician of a particular era. The purpose of the article is to focus on the mythological component of political leadership. Among the research methods are: concrete- historical and theoretical-journalistic, problematic-confessional and visual-anthropological. Given the diversity and vitality of existing political myths and counter-myths, myth and politics are almost impossible to separate, since the myth contains the encoded main values of society and is one of the constituent moments of history as such.

Keywords: political leadership, mythological component, political myths, V. V. Putin, sacralization, mythologization.

В даній статті досліджується міфологічна складова політичного лідерства на прикладі В. В. Путіна. Інтерес до вивчення канонізації правителів виправданий з метою знайти ключ до розуміння психології та ментальності народу, міфологічних та релігійних особливостей національного буття, як, втім, і природи сакралізації політичного діяча тієї чи іншої епохи. Мета статті - зосередити увагу на міфологічній складовій політичного лідерства. Серед методів дослідження: конкретно- історичний та теоретико-журналістський, проблемно-конфесійний і візуально-антропологічний. З огляду на різноманіття та вітальність існуючих політичних міфів і контрміфів, міф та політику практично неможливо роз'єднати, оскільки міф містить закодовані головні цінності суспільства і є одним з конституюють моментів історії як такої.

Ключові слова: політичне лідерство, міфологічна складова, політичні міфи, В. В. Путін, сакралізація, міфологізація.

Mythologization of rulers was carried out at different times in different societies and civilizations and is an important component of religious and political culture. Nowadays, due to the variety of examples of deification or, on the contrary, the demonization of such leaders during the course of world history, it is difficult to come to unambiguous conclusions about the very nature of canonization and the general foundations of charisma. Historically, interest in studying the alibization of rulers has been justified in order to find another key to understanding the psychology and mentality of the people, the mythological and religious features of national life, as well as the nature of sacralization of a particular political figure of a particular era [1; 2].

An extensive literature is devoted to the study of the sacred nature of power, in particular, the works of such authors as Plato, M. Eliade, L. Lйvi-Bruhl, C. Lйvi-Strauss, C.-G. Jung, J. Frazer. We can especially mention the idea of the foundations of the legitimacy of the power of M. Weber. It seems reasonable to investigate the phenomenon of canonization of presidential power within the framework of the dichotomous alternative deification-demonization during presidential periods of the President of the Russian Federation [3; 4].

Thus there are notions [5; 6] that there has not yet been a more majestic human being, in the world than “The autocrat of all Russia and the World Lord”, “Champion of Rights and Freedoms”, “Sword and Shield of Orthodoxy”, “Great God-like”, “Tsar of all people and others”: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. The foregoing is justified by the following provisions. There are representations of a cosmogenesis nature that the President of the Russian Federation hypothetically controls the Wheel of Sansara and is also an agent of the Matrix, that he (as a superman) never gets sick, never lies, never poops and never dies.

On the site “Absurdopedia” the current president of the Russian Federation is presented as follows. Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich, aka Vladimir Skazochny, aka VVP(GDP) (abbr. “The Great Almighty Putin”), in Chinese: Pu Tin, diminutive: Krabe, - President of All Russia, Soviet Resident, Russian President, alien, nul- lifier of the Constitution, the father of the hydrocarbon bomb, was particularly distinguished by writing the Interstate Standard at the Dawn of Time. On this site, Putin's position is designated as the All-Russian Emperor, the beginning of powers - 10000 BC., coronation - 2000, the end of authority - never, predecessor

- Yeltsin I, he does not need a successor, date of birth

- always, date of death - never, Dynasty - Rurikovichs- Romanovs - Caesars-Ming.

According to an exotic hypothesis, Putin is nothing more than an experiment of six-dimensional intelligent creatures to test the laws of arithmetic in a threedimensional continuum of a temporary symposium of impact of direct impact tectonic masses. According to some ideas, in Egypt, Putin is known as the deity Ptuin (which means “The Great Ptah of the Others, who comes from the Nile Delta with silt”), according to the ideas of the peasants, flies with the Siberian Cranes in the sky in search of a successor. It is noted that in folklore Putin is also known as Vovochka, therefore, since March 2000, all the jokes about Vovochka have become political ones. putin politician ruler understanding

Shamans of the African tribe Tumba-Yumba allegedly believe that Putin is a vicious demon who runs a huge terrible empire in the north of the planet. In the mythology of different tribes, Putin hypothetically appears on the side of the Light, then on the side of Darkness, and the most interesting from this point of view are the myths of the people of Khrumba, in which Putin can be described as a “lesser evil” that controls an army of steel golems.

The problem of Putin-myth has received unexpected development in modern times. There are representations according to which Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is originally a mythical figure created by a group of light (according to another version, dark) elves. Allegedly, according to some scholars, no Putin exists, but we are dealing with an energy-information phantom that arose as a result of the involution of the spirit of sovereign democracy into the collective unconscious of Russians. At the end of the magical action of the presidential powers, Putin should simply disperse in space, pouring into the faceless World Mind.

“Absurdopedia” on the site “Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin” provides an image of the bust of “The Great Emperor Gaius Julius Putin”, and a list of cities for renaming in honor of Putin: St. Putinburg, Volodya- on-East, Volodya-on-Caucasus, Volodya-Mirovaya, Putinstan, Putinsk, Putin-on-Volga, Putin the Great, Putinodar, Putingrad, Putinburg, Putinostok, Putiriysk, Putinsk-Dalniy, Putem, Putinogorsk, Bolshoi Putin, Putyanka, Putenev, Putinorechensk, Vladimir-Vladi- mirovichevsk, Puyev, Putinopol, Pugansk.

An assumption is made that, despite the fact that Vladimir Vladimirovich was kept secret for a long time, he maintained close friendly relations with many people, monsters and just animals. Among them, they stand out: Vladimir Lenin, Yegor Gaidar, Cthulhu, Yoda, huge fighting walking robots, a successor-double understudy, free media, non-free media, senior citizens, Bush, Angela Merkel, Harry Potter, Chubais, Kasparov, Kasyanov, Limonov, Chuck Norris.

The “Absurdopedia” website contains an icona depicting Vladimir Putin (Putin is known to be a repeated character in icon-painting images), which is entitled “St. Putin is the Defender” and the KGB-FSB is written on the halo. The site also contains images of Putin at different times with the corresponding signature: “XV-XXI-XXVII centuries. “Putin is the past, Putin is the present, Putin is the future of the Galaxy.”

A gallery is also presented on this site, where it is alleged that, according to researchers, Putin went under various guises through the centuries. For example, Putin is depicted there in the guise of the Antichrist, devouring liberals, on an Italian fresco of the 14th century. and Putin in the guise of a preacher skating in a painting by Henry Reburn, 1795. The site contains a TV story for children, “A Little New Year Miracle” about Putin, by Alexei Navalny, the head of the Russian opposition (Remote sketch comedy club about Putin), and various videos about the current Russian president: Putin's 12 years in 2 minutes, another 6 years of Putin in 2.5 minutes, a conservative video, a liberal video and a foreign video.

The author of the article has undertaken research efforts, analysed some existing myths [5; 6] about the real Russian president. The hagiography of Putinism, so to speak, tells us that when Putin was little, he broke a cup and oceans formed from the spilled water, and continents from the shards; the repetition of the name “Putin” increases the good in this world and the amount of money in the Stabilization Fund of Russia. If the president's address to the electorate is scrolled backwards, it's as if Our Father would succeed, and

Putin's New Year's speech makes 250.3 fatally ill people annually happy.

Presumably, many household items possess miraculous properties, since the fork that Putin ate was supposed to calm the vampire with one blow, the spoons Putin ate healed cataracts and glaucoma, the pen Putin wrote was the second official way to sign an agreement on selling souls along with blood. The personal belongings of this sacralized character are particularly powerful: the shirts worn by Putin make up the second, secret and most powerful layer of armour of the best Russian tanks, Putin's socks were dropped from bombers to Chechnya, Iraq, and now to Syria. Putin's hair cannot be used for Voodoo magic, since all attempts supposedly ended in a life-long imprisonment of sorcerers.

It is curious and may cause research interest of political mythologists that not only existing objects belonging to Russian leader V. V. Putin have amazing and paranormal properties, but fantastic functions can also be attributed to objects that are absent from him: for example, the computing power of Putin's calculator (if he had one) is equal to the computing power of the human brain, the computing power of Putin's mobile phone (if he had one) is equal to the total computing power of the brain of a small town inhabitants in the United States, and the computing power of Putin's computer (if he had one) is the computing power of brains of all mankind.

A variety of legendary and incomprehensible properties can be attributed to the President of the Russian Federation. As the folk tales allegedly say, the Japanese, observing Putin's morning exercises, came up with judo, and the president woke up a lot about the awakening of Cthulhu, because Cthulhu wakes up every morning and seems to be going to sew gloves on him. At the last World Cup, Putin could become the top scorer, but could not beat the best goalkeeper - himself. Putin reveals an expressive magical connection of a shamanistic nature with the elements, because when Putin is good, airplanes disperse the clouds, and when Putin is angry and stamps his foot, the earth shakes in Indonesia.

According to some hypothesized data, Putin possesses superpowers, which are manifested in the fact that Putin can look at a person's exact home address using a comment on any site, with a look he can turn off the microphone, and Windows Media Player with voice. He also shot down 15 American spy satellites which inadvertently flew over the Kremlin with one glance, he also knows how to photograph with his left eye, and with his right - he shows microfilms. Amazing and incomprehensible power is possessed not only by Putin's gaze, but also by his power of thought and will: he seems to be able to force any medium of information, down to a piece of paper, to play video or music with the wave of his mind, blow out helicopters and put out fires with the wave of his mind, and by effort of will can cause earthquakes, tsunamis and taxis.

The above phantasmagoric functional properties and features of Putin do not end there. According to these ideas, Putin can stop the horse at high speed, go into a burning hut and give a ruble by looking, and he can at any time look with your eyes and say with your mouth. It is believed that Putin really has absolutely fantastic energy, because when he gets behind the wheel of a car, his power increases by 1000 horsepower. But the magical properties are especially interesting, the siddhas of the Russian president are manifested in the context of his power over the Global Web: for example, it is alleged that, supposedly he can access the Internet using a calculator, he can also turn off the Internet on 1/6 of the land, and on 5/6 - turn off the gas [5; 6].

The material studied allows us to make one of the main conclusions: Putin's assessment is ambivalent, Russian society evaluates him critically; it is no longer close to the pole of absolute legitimacy, as it was in the 2000-s. In the national space, political myths (including myths about the head of state) are actualized, being involved in ideology and propaganda, giving them an appropriate tone. The implicitly inherent in almost every mythological construction appeal to the image of the enemy and the image of an alien demonstrates the deep involvement of political and archaic myths.

This explains the diversity and vitality of existing political myths and counter-myths, their clash among themselves in the process of political myth-making. It seems that myth and politics are almost impossible to separate, since myth contains encoded main values of society and is one of the constitutive moments of history as such.

Список використаних джерел

1. Killer K. G. Kleptocrat, genius, spy: the many myths of Vladimir Putin // The Guardian. - 2017. - 22 February.

2. Cultural Mythology and Global Leadership / Ed.: E. H. Kessler, D. J. Wong-MingJi. - NY and Ypsilanti: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009. - 390 p.

3. Добродум О. В. Канонізація Володимира Путіна в Рунеті (деякі історичні аспекти) // Вісник Черкаського університету. Серія Історичні науки. Випуск І60-161. - Черкаси, 2009. - С. 211-216.

4. Добродум О. В. Обожнювання і демонізація образа В. Путіна (на матеріалах Рунету) // Культура народов Причерноморья. - Симферополь, 2010. - №.10. - С. 187190.

5. Манусаджян А. Легенды и Мифы о Великом Путине https://fakeoff.org/war/legendy-i-mify-o-velikom-putine

6. Владимир Владимирович Путин // Абсурдопедия.

References

1. Killer K. G. Kleptocrat, genius, spy: the many myths of Vladimir Putin // The Guardian. - 2017. - 22 February.

2. Cultural Mythology and Global Leadership / Ed.: E. H. Kessler, D. J. Wong-MingJi. - NY and Ypsilanti: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009. - 390 p.

3. Dobrodum O. V Kanomzadja Volodimira Putina v Runeti (dejaki ^timctim aspekti) [Canonization of Vladimir Putin in Runet (Some Historical Aspects)] // V^nik Cherkas'kogo umversitetu. Serija Istorichm nauki. Vipusk 160-161. - Cherkasi, 2009. - S. 211-216.

4. Dobrodum O. V Obozhnjuvannja і demomzadja obraza V Putina (na materialah Runetu) [Adoration and de- monization of Putin's image (based on Runet)] // Kul'tura narodov Prichernomor'ja. - Simferopol', 2010. - №.10. - S. 187-190.

5. Manusadzhjan A. Legendy i Mify o Velikom Putine [Legends and Myths about the Great Putin] https://fakeoff. org/war/legendy-i-mify-o-velikom-putine

6. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin // Absurdopedia.

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