Agitprop (pronounced /ˈædʒɨtprɒp/, from Russian агитпроп [əɡɪtˈprop]) is derived from agitation and propaganda.
The term originated in Bolshevist Russia, where the term was a shortened form of
отдел агитации и пропаганды (otdel agitatsii i propagandy),The Department for Agitation and Propaganda.
This department was later renamed Ideological Department.

The term propaganda in the Russian language did not bear any negative connotation,
simply meaningt "dissemination of ideas".

Propaganda would mean communication of any kind of beneficial knowledge,
Agitation refered to the stimulation of groups of people into radical action.

Propaganda was supposed to engage with the mind,
while agitation acted on raw emotions,
and the creative application and combination of the two became simply known AgotProp.

The term agitprop gave rise to agitprop theatre, a highly-politicized leftist theatre
originating in Europe in the 1920s-1930s and spreading to America as well,
with plays of Bertolt Brecht being a notable example.

Gradually the term agitprop came to describe any kind of highly politicized art.