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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.
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