COMS 1001 Week 2 Lecture - Print Revolution PDF

On the topic of pictograms  Agenda » Housekeeping Items » D2L and Lib » ComX » Print Revolution Lecture » Print Revolution Film on Demand » Quiz #1  COMS 1001 – History of Communications The Tradition of Western Literacy  Today’s Objectives » Examine the...

On the topic of pictograms  Agenda » Housekeeping Items » D2L and Lib » ComX » Print Revolution Lecture » Print Revolution Film on Demand » Quiz #1  COMS 1001 – History of Communications The Tradition of Western Literacy  Today’s Objectives » Examine the Tradition of Western Literacy and the Print Revolution » Watch the film on demand: Print History  Origins of writing Evolved over long process Writing is significant as a technological medium – technique to preserve information Pictograms first clear symbols REBUS Principle-a pictographic symbol can be used to represent its phonetic value  Rebus principle examples + + I See You + = belief Modern hieroglyphs & ideograms ✞ ✡ ☪  Oral cultures Before writing words have no visual presence Words are sounds, actions - not a tag or label Magic power of words-power to name People think differently in oral cultures No text outside the thinker Sustained thought in an oral culture is tied to communication – you need someone to listen when you speak Oral culture tied to memory systems  Typographical cultures Written language (visual) is organized by discreteness and segmentation Writing objectifies (particular structure & order) Less participation than in oral cultures Massive archives, history, records- accumulation of information Medieval society (5th - 14th century) represents the transitional stage between a primarily oral culture and the typographical age Improvements in communication...make for increased dif culties of understanding. — Harold Innis, The Bias of Communication fi  Trilogy of Communication History Literate Oral Electronic We talk of oral, print and electronic societies The Bias of Media What does the word bias mean to you? » Bias is a disproportionate weight in favour of or against an idea or thing » When we discuss Harold Innis and the “Bias of Communication” we are NOT talking about how …….. » FOX news might be biased towards republican ideas » CBC might be left-leaning » The Telegraph Journal may write positive articles about the Irvings Innis - Bias of Communication » That the predominant mode of communication either favours communication over of space or communication over time.  Oral Societies » Societies dependent on oral communication traditions have a time bias » They can transmit ideas, culture, knowledge effectively over long time periods but have a difficulty preserving information over large distances » Do not rely on written records, they must preserve their traditions in story, song and myth handed down unchanged from one generation to the next Oral Societies and Time Space Bias » Consider the Town Crier. » Consider the two ships of the Franklin expedition — HMS Erebus and HMS Terror — and their crews disappeared during an ill- fated search for the Northwest Passage in 1846. » Science failed but oral tradition located the ships in 2014.  Literate Societies » Depend on transmission of the recorded word and have a space bias » They can transmit messages over large spaces — but favour space and power, over time, continuity and knowledge. » Consider the Roman Empire. Laws could only be maintained by writing them down and delivering them to the furthest reaches of the empire. Oral culture would have a difficult time doing this.  Electronic Societies » New media, (and the Internet), is able to transmit knowledge across time and space. » Does it favour one over the other?  Secondary Orality New electronic media (TV, radio) have commonality with oral societies – Participatory – Fostering communal sense – Concentration on present moment Also key differences – More self-conscious – Based on use of writing – Communal sense is large –”global village” – Sometimes only ritual of participation  Manually Copying Manuscripts For texts to be duplicated they had to be re-written (copied) by scribes From dictation Is it accurate? Can it be replicated? Scriptorium  Process of copying manuscripts In 13th Century copying was an act of worship Tried to copy exactly, but many errors possible in the process Very slow technique An act of meditation to write and to read Examples of manuscripts  The transition to literacy In Western Europe in the middle ages: – Communities were isolated and self- sufficient – Time marked by events – Documents had little credibility among peasants who couldn’t read – News and information spread orally Need for more accurate information grew Pressure for literacy increases Paper becomes available in Europe (1150AD).  So… to recap Writing is a significant medium in the history of communications There are significant differences between oral communication and written/typographical cultures Chinese invention of paper and subsequent arrival in Europe is significant precursor to the invention of the printing press Availability of cheap paper helps usher in the print age Next – the print revolution The Print Revolution  Invention of printing The “print revolution” required convergence of a number of factors (social and economic) In 1456 Gutenberg printed a bible – credit for first book using moveable type One of the earliest standardized machines Movement toward mass society Print is essentially the first mass medium  Printing Press in 1455 Made from an old wine press Allowed for the mass production of ideas. Ushered in the modern mass media Enabled the fast ow of information and encouraged the spread of new ideas fl  The Key Component of Moveable Type This is what made Gutenberg press unique. Each letter could be moved What is the rst literature to be mass produced by the printing press? fi  Gutenberg Bible was the rst major book printed using mass- produced movable type 49 copies (or substantial portions of copies) have survived fi  Into the vernacular The Bible began to be translated into vernacular language. What is vernacular. the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region. Before that the Bible was in Latin. Understood by few. The Priest was necessary to translate the word of God for citizens. democratization of knowledge occurs with Gutenberg’s printing press in 1455 democratization the action of making something accessible to more people. costs came down to approximately 1/8 the cost of scribed texts Printing Press Marked the end of the Middle Ages and ushered in the Renaissance. What is the the Renaissance? A major aspect is the rediscovery of learning and literature from Greek and Roman Empires. standardization all texts were the same. Authoritative. preserved information  A new mass medium affects… – Production – Distribution – Reception - Audiences – Mediation Of information and content A new medium has cultural, economic and political impacts on society & social structures Consider the Internet and the music industry.  Production Becomes standardized Shift from Scriptorium to printing shop More output, more quickly Both sacred and secular material Gave writers a larger audience  Distribution Increased output & each copy the same New spaces – bookshops, bigger libraries Abundance and variety of written records spread beyond literary elites Postal system and transportation advances expand scope  Reception Accounts, letters etc. often read aloud to others Early on a hybrid oral/literate culture Shift to vernacular increased readership beyond elites who knew Latin Literacy campaigns also increased proportion of literate who could read silently Printed material debated & print used for debate across distance (ex: among natural philosophers)  Mediation Refers to Exhibition/display – encoding – factors that affect the meanings made Posters with text and images in public places Development of pamphlet, journal, news layout – standards of format Censorship – can restrict material For profit printing may impact  Impacts of Printing Not overnight, slow and uneven Scriptoria continued alongside Silent scanning had begun before print, but more pervasive after Rural areas, most “heard” material from print Contributes to: Standardization, literacy, mass info, religious debate, propaganda/censorship, public sphere, enlightenment, Western liberal democracy  Impact on Language Standardization and structure Luther standardized German in a vernacular not his own, but the most popular one London dialect became standard in England Fixed spelling and grammar First English Dictionary in 1604  Postal services Established by 1464 in France, 1516 in England Ordinary and Special couriers (“post haste”) Normal messages 30 days Rome to London News could travel somewhat independently Highlights connections between transportation and communication – railroad speeds things up  Print news publishing First weekly journal 1609 in Germany - corantos 1621 in England Early weeklies provided foreign news (war & conquest) Later commercial and local news published too Become important sources of news on domestic politics – challenge to domestic policies Licensing, taxing (Stamp Act) and censoring are eventually overcome “free press” becomes foundation of emergent liberal democracies (France, America)  Martin Luther 95 Theses nailed to the Church door in 1517 The theses protested the selling of indulgences or remissions for punishment of confessed sins. Begins the Reformation Without the press the idea of Luther could never have been broadly disseminated,  Counter Reformation (1560) A backlash of Church and state on the ideas of the Renaissance and Reformation. Spanish Inquisition Severe limits placed on printing and the spread of humanist ideas. What is humanism? Humanism celebrated the human form and encouraged an empirical understanding of the world. censorship John Milton -- Anti Censorship Areopagitica impassioned philosophical defences of the principle of a right to freedom of speech and expression 1644  Enlightenment (early 18th century) The Age of Reason Belief in Science over Religion Justice over the abuse of power social contract that speci ed individual rights over absolutist rule of monarchy fi Philosophers of the Enlightenment Rousseau - Social Contract Adam Smith - Economics Voltaire - advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state.  1775 America American War of Independence. Government of the people, by the people, for the people No King but a democratically elected government. 1789 France French Revolution. Fuelled by pamphlets and newspapers.  Industrial Revolution 1760 Application of scienti c knowledge to production. People moved to cities. Rise of complex social relationships. Temporal shift in life. fi  Steam Eventually powered the printing press. Mass production of newspaper  Penny Press Penny press newspapers were cheap, tabloid- style newspapers mass-produced in the United States from the 1830s onwards. Mass production of inexpensive newspapers became possible following the shift from hand-crafted to steam- powered printing  The Fourth Estate It’s not until later (and later in this course) that we start to understand the watchdog role of the press as the 4th Estate.  The European Roots of Media and Western Society The Middle Ages Feudal society and the dominance of the Church The Renaissance Return to the classical teachings of ancient Greece and Rome, the emergence of humanism Marked by the development of Gutenberg’s printing press (1454) Printing presses disseminated ideas and spread literacy New ideas from other regions could lead to social change and destabilization  The European Roots of Media and Western Society, cont’d The Reformation Martin Luther criticized the Catholic Church and advocated a more individual relationship with God Printing of the Bible made it more accessible to people, weakening the power of the Church Counter-Reformation Re-establishment of Church and state as heads of power, censorship and state control of printing and publishing John Milton’s anti-censorship essay Areopagitica (1644)  The European Roots of Media and Western Society, cont’d Age of Reason/the Enlightenment Return to humanism and the application of the scienti c approach Key philosophers: Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Adam Smith Expanding elite class: the bourgeoisie Nature of the printing press The desire to control information vs. the development of voices representing different interests fi  Summary Gutenberg Printing Press allows the spread of knowledge based on a humanist understanding of the World Prepared Western society for profound political and social change feudalism to capitalism, farming to industry  Reformation 1518 Martin Luther “publishes” his 95 theses Educational reform effort of the Old Church First major ideological conflict where printed material played significant role Luther resented: Italian dominance, commercialization, separation of lay folk from the Word But, not determined by printing press  printing and social transformation Printing press a vehicle for reformers and opponents Rise of critical ideas Use of vernacular Education to spread new ideas & literacy Increasingly difficult to suppress ideas Images important as well as texts Print & literacy part of larger whole – oral communication also significant  So… Printing press is entwined with development of “liberal democracy,” with the events of the Protestant reformation, & the industrial revolution Eventually transformed patterns of communication and entrenched primacy of writing/text in cultures emerging from Western Europe Literacy continues to be seen as a key to development