Agit Prop

Agit Prop is a contracted, or portmanteau, word that has come into the English language from Russian and refers to the promotion of political ideas, particularly those of the Left, through literature, drama, music, or art. In the 1920s, immediately after the Communists came to power in the Soviet Union, the Department of Agitation and Propaganda was established to advance the ideological education of the masses. The word is a contraction of agitatsiya and propaganda from the ministry's title. Agitation was intended to appeal to the emotions and propaganda to the intellect, and together they formed a powerful ideological tool for “winning hearts and minds.” (Ironically the American right wing used this phrase during the Vietnam War to describe their efforts to “win over” the Vietnamese people to pacify the country.) The Constructivist (Constructivism) designers undertook many agit prop commissions and the word is still used to indicate politically left-wing graphic designs. Initially...