Print Culture and Modern World PDF

**[PRINT CULTURE AND MODERN WORLD]** The first printed books: the earliest kind of print technology was developed in East Asia (china, japan and Korea). It was a system of hand printing. ***[PRINT IN CHINA ]*** From 594 AD, books in china were printed by rubbing paper against the inked surface of...

**[PRINT CULTURE AND MODERN WORLD]** The first printed books: the earliest kind of print technology was developed in East Asia (china, japan and Korea). It was a system of hand printing. ***[PRINT IN CHINA ]*** From 594 AD, books in china were printed by rubbing paper against the inked surface of woodblocks. As both sides of thin porous sheet could not be printed, the traditional Chinese accordion book was folded and stitched at the side. Skilled craftsmen could duplicate the beauty of calligraphy with remarkable accuracy. China's bureaucracy and its role in print: The imperial state in china was the major producer of printed material for a long period of time. China possessed a huge bureaucratic system which recruited its personnel through the civil service examinations. Textbooks for this examination were printed in large numbers under the sponsorship of the imperial state. From the 16^th^ century, the number of candidates for this examination went up and that increased the volume of print. Spread of print in china: By the 17^th^ century, as urban culture bloomed in china, the uses of print diversified. The diversification of print brought the following changes: 1. Print was no longer used just by scholar officials. 2. Merchants used print in their everyday life as they collected trade information. 3. Reading became a leisure activity. 4. Rich women began to read and many started publishing their poetry and plays. 5. Wives of scholar officials published their works and courtesans wrote about their lives. 6. The new readers preferred fictional narratives, poetry, anthologies of literary masterpieces, autobiographies and romantic plays. Role of technology in spreading reading culture: The new reading culture was accompanied by a new technology. Western printing techniques and mechanical presses were imported to china in the late 19^th^ century as western powers established their outposts in china. Shanghai became the hub of the new print culture, catering to western style school. There was a gradual shift from hand printing to mechanical printing. ***PRINT IN JAPAN*** Buddhist missionaries from china introduced hand printing technology to japan around 768-770AD. The oldest Japanese book, the diamond sutra, printed in 868AD, containing 6 sheets of text and woodcut illustrations. Pictures were printed on textiles, playing cards and paper money. In medieval japan, poets and prose writers were regularly published and books were cheap and abundant. Printing of visual material lead to interesting publishing practices. In the late 18^th^ century, in the flourishing urban circles at edo (Tokyo), illustrated collections of paintings depicted an elegant urban culture, involving artists, teahouse gatherings and courtesans. Books and libraries were packed with hand printed material on various types such as women, tea ceremony, places, cooking, musical instruments, calculations. KITAGAWA UTAMARO- He was born in Edo in 1753 and was widely known for his contributions to the art form- ukiyo (pictures of the floating world) or depiction of ordinary human experiences, especially the urban ones. These prints travelled to contemporary US and Europe and influenced artists like Monet, Manet and Vincent van Gogh. ***PRINT IN KOREA*** Belonging to the mid 13^th^ century, printing woodblocks of the tripitaka Koreana are a Korean collection of Buddhist scriptures. They were engraved on about 80,000 woodblocks. ***PRINT COMES TO EUROPE*** In the 11^th^ century, Chinese paper reached Europe via the same silk route which was used in trade of silk and spices for centuries. Paper made possible the production of manuscripts carefully written by scribes. Then, In 1295, Marco Polo, a great explorer, returned to Italy after years of exploration in china and brought the technology of woodblock/ hand printing with him. Italians began producing books with woodblocks and soon the technology spread to other parts of Europe. Luxury editions were still handwritten on very expensive vellum, parchment made from the skin of animals, meant for aristocratic circles and rich monastic libraries. They scoffed at printed material as cheap vulgarities. Merchants and students in the university towns bought the cheaper printed copies. As the demand for books increased, booksellers all over Europe exporting books to many different countries. Scribes or skilled hand writers were no longer solely employed by wealthy and influential patrons, but increasingly booksellers as well. Booksellers appointed scribes or skilled hand writers for the production of manuscripts. Book fairs were also organised at many different places. [Defects with manuscripts:] the production of manuscripts could not satisfy the ever increasing demand for books. 1. Copying was expensive, time consuming and laborious. 2. Manuscripts were fragile, difficult to carry around. Thus, the circulation of manuscripts remained limited. There was a need for even quicker and cheaper reproduction of text which could only be possible the invention of a new print technology. At Strasbourg, Germany, Johann Gutenberg developed the first known printing press in 1430's. ***GUTENBURG AND THE PRINTING PRESS*** Gutenberg developed the first known printing press at Strasbourg, Germany in 1430's. He was the son of the merchant and grew up on a large agricultural estate. Since childhood, he had seen wine and olive presses. Subsequently, he learnt the art of polishing stones and became a master goldsmith. He also acquired the expertise to create lead mould used for making trinkets. [Gutenberg's printing press ] Gutenberg adapted existing technology to design his innovation. His knowledge for olive press provided the model for the new printing press. Moulds were used for casting the metal types for the letters of the alphabet. By 1448, Gutenberg perfected the system. The first book that he printed was the bible. About 180 copies were printed and it took 3 years to produce them. The Gutenberg press could only print 250 sheets on one side per hour. [The new technology did not entirely displace the existing art of producing books by hand.] In fact, printed books at first closely resembled the manuscripts in appearance and layout. The metal letters imitated the ornamental handwritten styles. Borders were illuminated by hand with foliage and other patterns and illustrations were printed. In the books printed for rich, space for decoration was kept blank on the printed page. Each purchaser could choose the design and decide on the painting school that would do the illustrations. Between 1450 and 1550, printing presses were set up in most countries of Europe. Printers from Germany travelled to other countries, seeking work and helping start new presses. Books could now be produced much faster than before. This shift from hand printing to mechanical printing led to print revolution. ***THE PRINT REVOLUTION AND ITS IMPACT*** What was the print revolution? The shift from hand printing to mechanical printing led to the print revolution. The print revolution was not just a new way of producing books. It transformed the lives of people by changing their knowledge and relationship with institutions and authorities. It influenced popular perceptions and opened up new ways of life. ***A NEW READING PUBLIC*** **Q.** Explain the emergence of a reading public in Europe. How can we saw that the reading public and the hearing public intermingled? The printing press led to the emergence of a new reading public as printing reduced the price of books. The time a labour required to produce each book also reduced, and multiple copies could be produced with greater ease. Books flooded the market reaching out to an evergrowing readership. and access to books created a new culture of reading. Earlier, books were only restricted to the elites. Common people lived in a world of oral culture. They heard sacred texts being read out, ballads recited and folk tales narrated. Knowledge was transferred orally. Before the age of print, books were not only expensive but they could not be produced in sufficient numbers. Now books could reach out to wider sections of people. Thus, there was a shift from hearing to a reading public. [Challenges: ] However, the transition from hearing public to reading public was not so simple. Books could only be read by the literate and the rates of literacy in most European countries were still very low. To increase the reach of books among those who could not read, printers began publishing popular ballads and folktales with lots of pictures. These were then sung and recited at gatherings and taverns in villages and towns. Print was transmitted orally and the hearing and the reading public intermingled. ***RELEGIOUS DEBATES AND FEAR OF PRINT*** Innovation of print created the possibility of wide circulation of ideas and introduced a new world of debate and discussion. Even those who disagreed with established authorities could now print and circulate their ideas. However, not everyone welcomed the printed book. Many were apprehensive of the effects that the easier access to printed world and wider circulation of books could have on people's minds. It was feared that if there was no control over what was printed and read, then rebellious and irreligious ideas might spread. If that happened, the authority of valuable literature would be destroyed. This anxiety was expressed by the religious authorities, monarchs, writers and artists, which was the basis of widespread criticism of the new printed culture that had begun. **[Martin Luther: ]** [ Printing technology played a key role in bringing religious reforms in the 16th century.] In 1517, religious reformer Martin Luther wrote 95 thesis criticizing many of the practices and rituals of the roman catholic church. A printed copy of this was posted on a church door in Wittenberg challenging the church to debate his ideas. Luther's writings were immediately reproduced and read in wide numbers. This lead to a division within the church and beginning of a protest reformation. Luther's translation of the new testament sold 5000 copies within a few weeks. All of this happened because of the print technology. Deeply grateful to print, Luther said printing is the ultimate gift of god and the greatest one. Several scholars thought that print brought a new intellectual atmosphere and helped spread the new ideas that led to the reformation. **PRINT AND DISSENT** Print and popular religious literature encouraged many distinctive individual interpretations of faith even among little-educated working people. In the sixteenth century, Menocchio, a miller in Italy reinterpreted the message of the bible and formulated a view of god and creation that enraged the roman catholic church. When the roman catholic church began its inquisition to repress heretical ideas, Menocchio was executed. The roman church, troubled by such effects of popular readings and questioning of faith, imposed severe controls over publishers and booksellers and began to maintain and index of prohibited books from 1558. **THE READING MANIA** Through the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries, literacy rates went up in many parts of Europe. Churches of different denominations set up schools in villages, carrying literacy to peasants and artisans. As literacy and schools spread in the European countries, there was a virtual reading mania. New forms of popular literature appeared in print, targeting new audiences. 1. Booksellers employed pedlars who roamed around the villages, carrying little books for sale. 2. There were almanacs or ritual calendars, along with ballads and folktales. 3. In England, penny chapbooks were carried by petty pedlars known as chapmen, and sold for a penny so that even the poor could buy them. 4. In France, were the "Bibliotheque Bleue", which were low priced small books printed on poor quality paper, and bound in cheap blue covers. 5. Periodical press, journals and newspapers carried information about current affairs with entertainment, wars and trade, as well as news of development in other places. 6. Similarly, the ideas of scientists and philosophers now became more accessible to the common people. Ancient and medieval scientific texts were compiled and published and maps and scientific diagrams were widely printed. The discoveries of scientists like Isaac Newton and the writings of thinkers like Thomas Paine, Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau were widely published and read. Thus, their ideas about science, reason and rationality became a part of the popular literature. By the mid eighteenth century, there was a common conviction that books were a means of spreading progress and enlightenment. Many people believed that books could change the world, liberate society from despotism and tyranny, and herald a time when reason and intellect would rule. Louise Sebastien Mercier, a novelist in the 18^th^ century France, declared "the printing press is the most powerful engine of progress and public opinion is the force that will sweep despotism away". In many of Mercier's novels, the heroes are transformed by acts of reading. They devour books, are lost in the world books create, and become enlightened in the process. Convinced of the power of print in bringing enlightenment and destroying the basis of despotism, Mercier proclaimed: tremble therefore tyrants of the world. **FRENCH REVOLUTION** Many historians have argued that print culture created the conditions within which French Revolution occurred. Three types of arguments have usually been put forward: First: print popularised the ideas of the enlightenment thinkers. Their writings provided a critical commentary on tradition, superstition and despotism. They argued for the rule of reason rather custom, and demanded that everything be judged through the application of reason and rationality. They attacked the sacred authority of the church and the despotic power of the state, thus eroding the legitimacy of a social order based on tradition. Second: print created a new culture of dialogue and debate. All values, norms and institutions were re-evaluated and discussed by a public that had become aware of the power of reason, and recognised the need to question existing ideas and beliefs. Within this public culture, new ideas of social revolution came into being. Third: by the1780's, there was an outpouring of literature that mocked the royalty and criticised their morality. It raised questions about their existing social order. Cartoons and caricatures suggested that the monarchy remained absorbed only in sensual pleasures while the common people suffered immense hardships. Therefore, print helped in the spread of ideas. But, people did not read just one kind of literature. If they read the ideas of Voltaire and Rousseau, they were also exposed to monarchical and church propaganda. They were not influenced by everything they read or saw. They accepted some ideas while rejected other. Print did not directly shape their minds but it did open up possibilities of thinking differently. **19 CENTURY** The 19^th^ century saw increase in mass literacy in Europe, bringing a large number of new readers among children, women and workers. As primary education became compulsory from the late 19^th^ century, children became an important category of readers. Production of school textbooks became critical for the publishing industry. A children's press, devoted to literature of children alone, was set up in France in 1857. This press published new works as well as old fairy tales. The Grimm brothers in Germany spent years compiling traditional folk tales gathered from peasants and published them in 1812. Anything that was considered unsuitable for children or would appear vulgar to the elites was not included in the published version. Women became important as readers as well as writers. Penny magazines meant for women were manuals teaching proper behaviour and housekeeping. Some of the best known novelists were women such as Bronte sisters, George Eliot and Jane Austen. Their writings became important in defining a new type of women: a person with will, strength of personality, determination and the power to think. Lending libraries had been in existence from the 17^th^ century onwards. In the 19^th^ century, lending libraries in England became instruments for educating white-collar workers, artisans and lower middle class people. After the working day was gradually shortened from the mid-19^th^ century workers had some time for self-improvement and self-expression. They wrote political tracts and autobiographies in large numbers. **FURTHER INNOVATIONS** Through the 19^th^ century, a series of further innovations developed in the printing technology: 1. By the mid-19^th^ century, Richard M Hoe of New York had perfected the power driven cylindrical press. This was capable of printing 8000 sheets per hour. This press was particularly useful in printing newspapers. 2. In the late 19^th^ century, the offset press was developed which could print up to 6 colours at a time. 3. In the 20^th^ century, electrically operated presses began printing operations. 4. Methods of feeding paper improved, the quality of plates became better, automatic paper reels and photoelectric controls of the colour register were introduced. Several such mechanical improvements transformed the appearance of print. Printers and publishers continuously developed new strategies to sell their product. 1. Nineteenth century periodicals serialised important novels, which gave birth to a particular way of writing novels. 2. In 1920's in England, popular works were sold is cheap series called shilling series. 3. The dust cover or the book jacket was also a 20^th^ century innovation. 4. During the great depression in the 1930's, cheap paperback editions were brought out in the 1930's to sustain buying. **[INDIA AND THE WORLD OF PRINT]** India had a very rich and old tradition of handwritten manuscripts in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian as well as in various vernacular languages. These manuscripts were copied on palm leaves or on handmade paper. They would either be pressed between wooden or sewn together to ensure preservation. Manuscripts were highly expensive and fragile. They had to be handled carefully and could not be read easily as the script was written in different styles. Therefore, they were not widely used in everyday lives. [ ] **PRINT COMES TO INDIA** The printing press first came to goa with Portuguese missionaries in the mid-16^th^ century. Jesuit priests learnt Konkani and printed several tracts. By 1674, 50 books had been printed in the Konkani and the Kanara language. In 1579, the catholic priests printed the first Tamil book at cochin and the first Malayalam book in 1713. By 1710, Dutch protestant missionaries had printed Tamil texts many of which were translations of older works. The English language press did not grow in India till quite late. The English east India company began to import its presses from the late 17^th^ century in India. From 1780, James Augustus hickey began to edit the Bengal gazette, a weekly magazine that described itself as a commercial paper open to all but influenced by none. It was a private English enterprise, proud of its independence from the colonial influence, that began English printing in India. James published a lot of gossip about the company's senior officials in India. Enraged by this, governor general warren Hastings persecuted hickey and encouraged the publication of officially sanctioned newspapers that could counter the flow of information that damaged the image of the colonial government. By the end of the 18^th^ century, Indians too began to publish Indian newspapers. The first Indian newspaper was the weekly newspaper Bengal gazette, brought out by Gangadhar Bhattacharya, who was close to Rammohan Roy. **RELEGIOUS REFORMS AND PUBLIC DEBATES** From the early 19^th^ century, religious debates were carried out in public and in print. Some criticised existing practices and campaigned for reform while others countered the arguments of the reformers. Printed tracts and newspapers not only spread the new ideas, but they shaped the nature of the debate. A wider public could now participate in these public discussions and express their views. 19^th^ century was a time of intense controversies between social and religious reformers and Hindu orthodoxy over matters like widow immolation, monotheism, Brahmanical priesthood and idolatry. In Bengal as the debate developed, tracts and newspapers proliferated, circulating a variety of arguments. The ideas were printed in everyday, spoken language of ordinary people to reach a wider audience. Rammohan Roy published the Sambad Kaumudi from 1821 and the Hindu orthodoxy commissioned the Samachar Chandrika to oppose his views. From 1822, two Persian newspapers -- Jam-i-jahan nama and Shamsul Akhbar were published. Gujarati newspaper Bombay Samachar was also published in 1822. [Among Muslims ] In north India, the Ulama were deeply anxious about the collapse of the Muslim dynasties. They feared that colonial rulers would encourage conversion, change the Muslim personnel laws. To counter this, they used cheap lithographic presses, printed Urdu and Persian translations of holy scriptures and printed religious newspapers and tracts. The deoband seminary founded in 1867, published thousands of fatwas telling Muslim readers how to conduct themselves in their everyday lives and explaining the meaning of Islamic doctrines. [Among Hindus] Among Hindus, too, print encouraged the reading of religious texts, especially in the vernacular languages. The first printed edition of Ramcharitmanas of tulsidas, a 16^th^ century text, came out from Calcutta in 1810. By mid-19^th^ century, cheap lithographic editions flooded north Indian markets. From the 1880s, the naval Kishore press at Lucknow and shri venkateshwar press in Bombay printed various religious texts in vernaculars. Religious texts, reached a very wide circle of people, encouraging discussion, debates and controversies within and among different religions. Print did not only stimulate the publication of conflicting opinions amongst communities, but it also connected communities and people in different parts of India. Newspapers conveyed news from one place to another, creating pan Indian identities. **NEW FORMS OF PUBLICATION** - Printing created an appetite for new kinds of writing. As more and more people could now read, they wanted to see their own lives, experience, emotions, relationships reflected in what they read. The novel, a literary firm which had developed in Europe, ideally catered to this need. For readers, it opened up new world of experiences, and gave a vivid sense of the diversity of human lives. - Besides novels, other new literary forms like lyrics, short stories and essays about social and political matters entered the world of reading. They reinforced the new emphasis on human lives and intimate feeling, about the political and social rules that shaped such things. - By the end of the 19^th^ century, a new visual culture was taking shape. With the help of an increasing no of printing presses, visual images could be easily reproduced in vast numbers. Painters like Raja Ravi Varma produced images for mass circulation. Poor wood engravers who made woodblocks set up shops near the letterpresses, and were employed by print shops. - Cheap prints and calendars, easily available in the bazaar, could be bought even by the poor to decorate the walls of their homes or offices. These prints began shaping popular ideas about modernity and tradition, religion and politics and society and culture. - By the 1870s, caricatures and cartoons were being published in journals and newspapers, commenting on social and political issues. Some caricatures mocked the educated Indian's fascination with western tastes and clothes while others expressed the fear of social change. **WOMEN AND PRINT** Liberal husbands and fathers began educating their womenfolk at home and sent them to schools when women's schools were set up in the cities and towns after the mid-19^th^ century. Many journals began carrying the writings by women and explained why women should be educated. They also carried a syllabus and attached suitable reading matter which could be used for home-based schooling. But not all families were liberal. Conservative Hindus believed that a literate girl will be widowed and Muslims feared that educated women would be corrupted by reading Urdu romances. Many women contributed to print culture. Prominent among them were: - Rashsundari Debi: In east Bengal, in the early 19^th^ century, Rashsundari Debi, a young married girl in a very orthodox household, learnt to read in the secrecy of her kitchen. Later, she wrote her autobiography Amar JIban which was published in 1876 in Bengali language. (first full length autobiography in Bengali). - Kailashbashini Debi: From the 1860s, a few Bengali women like Kailashbashini Debi wrote books highlighting the experiences of women i.e. how they were imprisoned at home, kept in ignorance, forced to do hard domestic work and treated unjustly by the very people they served. - Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai: In the 1880s, women writers like Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai, both from Maharashtra, wrote with passionate anger about the lives of upper caste Hindu women, especially widows. - Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein: In 1926, Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein, a noted educationist and literary figure, strongly condemned men for withholding education from women in the name of religion.