About the lecture
Ho Chi Minh, the father of modern Vietnam, remains central to Vietnamese politics and culture. Since his death in September 1969, the Communist Party has continually developed a state cult around him. Meanwhile, the spontaneous emergence of independent popular cults and forms of worship of ‘Uncle Ho’ challenges the party's dominant interpretation of his legacy and image. He has found a place in new shrines and on household altars. As Father, he represents authority, protection and the masculine principle of the universe. His growing cult shows how traditional popular religiosity can survive despite an official ideology that discourages spiritual veneration. In contemporary Vietnam, he is not merely a past political and cultural leader: in keeping with Vietnamese tradition, he has become an object of spontaneous religious worship among ordinary people.
Lecturer Mgr. Ľubomír Lehocký graduated in Comparative Religious Studies at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava, where he continues doctoral research and teaches. He edits Axis Mundi, published by the Slovak Association for the Study of Religions, and has published studies and delivered public lectures. His main interest is popular religiosity in contemporary Vietnam. He lived there for a period and conducted extensive fieldwork. His dissertation is titled ‘Ho Chi Minhs Are Not Dead: Contemporary Forms of Worshiping Uncle Ho in Northern Vietnam’.
Lecture venue:
Cultural and Educational Centre, State Scientific Library in Košice, Pribinova 1, Košice
https://goo.gl/maps/UiU21w5RLz52
Lecture date and time: 22. 5. 2019 at 16:30 – 18:00
The lecture series was supported using public funds by the Slovak Arts Council.
