agitprop means political propaganda disseminated through art, drama, literature, etc., especially communist propaganda; (specifically, communism, historical) such propaganda formerly disseminated by the Department for Agitation and Propaganda of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 85 out of 100.
agitprop is pronounced /ˈædʒɪtpɹɒp/.
Why “agitprop” is a great word
Agitprop is political propaganda, especially of a communist or revolutionary nature, disseminated through artistic and popular media. The term is borrowed from Russian агитпро́п (agitpróp), a blend of the Russian words агитация (agitácija, 'agitation') and пропаганда (propagánda, 'propaganda'), originally a shortening of the name of the Soviet Union's Department for Agitation and Propaganda (отдел агитации и пропаганды). First recorded in English use 1930–35. Unlike propaganda—a broad river of persuasive information—or didacticism—a calm lecture on morals—agitprop is a weaponized performance, a staged riot for the mind. It is the stark poster slapped on a factory wall, the revolutionary verse shouted from a makeshift stage, the documentary film cut to inflame the worker's heart—art stripped of ambiguity and forged into a tool, believing beauty is a luxury and clarity a duty.
Etymology
The noun is borrowed from Russian агитпро́п (agitpróp, “agitprop”), Агитпро́п (Agitpróp, “Agitprop (Department for Agitation and Propaganda of the Soviet Union)”), short for отде́л агитации и пропаганды (otdél agitacii i propagandy, “Department for Agitation and Propaganda”); analysable as a blend of agitation + propaganda.
The verb is derived from the noun.
noun
- Political propaganda disseminated through art, drama, literature, etc., especially communist propaganda; (specifically, communism, historical) such propaganda formerly disseminated by the Department for Agitation and Propaganda of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.“Russian Twitter and Facebook bots trolled both the left and the right with agitprop — in what appears to have been a general effort to deepen divisions and sow political chaos in America, not to favor one party or candidate over the other.”
- An instance of such propaganda.
- An organization or person engaged in disseminating such propaganda.
verb
- To disseminate (something as) political propaganda, especially communist propaganda, through art, drama, literature, etc.“Anyone who has seen a class struggler at work, agitpropping around Union Square, or the back streets of the Loop, realizes that, by the very nature of things, he or she is so possessed of that particular barricading dream as to lose touch with all reality, [...]”