| Samizdat | |
 Russian samizdat and photo negatives of unofficial literature | |
| Russian | самиздат |
|---|---|
| Romanization | samizdat |
| Literal meaning | self-publishing |
Samizdat (Russian: самиздат, pronounced [səmɨzˈdat], lit. 'self-publishing') was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual reproduction was widespread, because typewriters and printing devices required official registration and permission to access. This was a grassroots practice used to evade official Soviet censorship.