CBSE - Print Culture and the Modern World

Woodblock print was invented around the sixth century in China. It came to Europe, along with Marco Polo, in 1295. Marco Polo returned to Italy after many years of exploration in China, and he brought the knowledge of woodblock print with him on his return.

Through the publications of his protestant ideas, Martin Luther challenged the orthodox practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church. He wrote 95 theses criticizing many of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther’s writings were immediately reproduced in vast numbers and read widely. This led to a division within the church and to the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. He also translated the New Testament of which 5000 copies were sold within a few days. These were impossible without the printing technology. Deeply grateful to the print, Luther said, “Printing is the ultimate gift of God and the greatest one.”
This is the reason why Luther was in favour of print and spoke out in praise of it.

The Roman Catholic Church had to face many dissents from mid-16th century onwards. People had written many books that interpreted the God and the creation in their own ways or as they liked. Therefore, the church banned such books and kept the record of such banned books. It was called the Index of Prohibited Books.

Gandhi considered that the liberty of speech, liberty of press and freedom of association were three most powerful vehicles of expressing and cultivating public opinion. Therefore, he said the fight for Swaraj was a fight for liberty of speech, press, and freedom for association. 

The Gutenberg Press: The first printing press was developed by Johan Gutenberg in 1430s. It was a developed form of the olive and wine presses. By 1448 Gutenberg perfected this system. The lead moulds were used for casting the metal types for the letters of alphabet. The first book he printed was Bible. He produced 180 copies of Bible in 3 years, which was much faster by standards of the time, at the time.

Erasmus’s idea of printed book: Erasmus was the Latin scholar and a Catholic reformer. He criticized the printing of books. He thought that most of the books are stupid, ignorant, scandalous, raving, irreligious and seditious. According to him such books devaluate the valuable books.

The Vernacular Press Act: Modelled on the Irish Press Laws, it was passed in 1878. This law gave the government tyrannical rights to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press. If a seditious report was published and the newspaper did not heed to an initial warning, then the press was seized and the printing machinery confiscated. This was a complete violation of the freedom of expression.

The spread of print culture in 19th century India benefitted Indian women through learning and education. The liberal families supported the education of women to study or read as they believed education and reading would make the women corrupt. This led to the counter reaction, as most of the oppressed women began to study and read books and learnt writing in secrecy. Some literate women started to write books and their autobiographies. Rashasundari Devi, a young married girl wrote her autobiography “Amar Jiban” which was published in 1876. Overall, the print culture in 19th century India helped in spread of the feeling of self-reliance among Indian women.

The poor people benefitted from the spread of print culture because of the availability of books at a low price. The readership among them increased due to the publication of low priced books. Public libraries were also set up from the early 19th century, expanding the access to the books where all people could gain knowledge. Encouraged and inspired by the social reformers, the people like factory workers too set up their libraries and some even wrote books. Kashibaba, a Kanpur mill worker wrote and published ‘Chote aur Bade Ka Sawal’.

Indian reforms of 19th century utilized print culture as the most potent means of spreading their reformist ideas and highlight the unethical issues. They began publishing various vernacular and English and Hindi newspapers and books through which they could spread their opinions against widow immolation, child marriage, monotheism, Brahmanical priesthood and idolatry to the common people of the country. In this way the spread of print culture in the 19th century provided them a space for attacking religious orthodoxy and to spread modern social and political ideas to the people of different languages across the country.

Many people in the 18th century Europe thought that the print culture has the power in it to bring enlightenment and end despotism. This would help in spreading of literacy and knowledge among all class of people. Social reformers like Louise, Sebastian Mercier, and Martin Luther felt that the print culture is the most powerful engine of progress and public opinion and hence, it would definitely bring enlightenment and an end to despotism.

Some people especially from upper class and powerful class feared the effect of easily available printed books. Their cause of fear was that due to the spread of literacy among the common people they may loose their position or authorities. Some people feared that this may lead to the spread of rebellions and irreligious thoughts. For example -
→ In Europe, the Roman Catholic Church tried to curb the printed books through the Index of Prohibited Books.
→ In India, the Vernacular Press Act imposed restrictions on Indian press and various local newspapers. Also, some religious leaders and some people from upper castes expressed their fear. 

The effects of the spread of print culture for poor people in nineteenth century India were:
→ The poor people benefited from the spread of print culture in India on account of the availability of low-price books and public libraries.
→ Enlightening essays were written against caste discrimination and its inherent injustices. These were read by people across the country.
→  On the encouragement and support of social reformers, over-worked factory workers set up libraries for self-education, and some of them even published their own works, for example, Kashibaba and his "Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal".

The print culture immensely helped the growth in the growth of nationalism in India in the following ways -
→ Through vernacular press, oppressive methods of colonial rule were reported.
→ The misrule of government and its initiative on curbing the freedom of press spread the nationalist ideas that demanded freedom of press.
→ Nationalist feelings and revolutionary ideas were secretly spread by the dailies like - The Amrit Bazar Patrika, The Indian Mirror, Kesri, The Hindu, Bombay Samachar etc. Through these newspapers national leaders always tried to mobilize public opinion of Indian masses and unite them for the cause of nationalism. 
→ The print culture helped in educating the people who then started to be gradually influenced by the reformist and nationalist ideas of the various Indian leaders like Raja Ram Mohun Roy, Tilak, Subhas Bose and Gandhiji etc. 

Q.1: - What is calligraphy?
 (a) Poetry (b) Textbooks
 (c) Flowers arrangement (d) Stylized
Q.2.: - What was Gutenberg’s first printed book?
 (a) Ballads (b) Dictionary
 (c) Bible (d) None of these
Q.3: -What were ‘Penny Chapbooks’?
 (a) Pocket – sized books (b) Journals
 (c) Ritual Calendars (d) Newspaper
Q.4: - Who introduced the printing press in India-
 (a) French (b) Italian
(c) Portuguese (d) None of these
Q.5: - Who wrote ‘My childhood My university’.
 (a) Thomas wood (b) Maxim Gorky
 (c) George Eliot (d) Jane Austen
Q.6: - When was the Vernacular press act passed?
 (a) 1878 (b) 1887 (c) 1867 (d) 1898
Q.7: - Who said, “Printing is the ultimate gift of god and the greatest one.”
 (a) Charles Dickens (b) J. V. Schley
 (c) Mahatma Gandhi (d) Martin Luther
Q.8: - Which is the oldest printed book of Japan
 (a) Bible (b) Diamond Sutra
 (c) Mahabharta (d) Ukiyo
Q.9: - Who wrote 95 theses?
 (a) Martin Luther (b) Johann Gutenberg
 (c) J. V. Schley (d) Charles Dickens
Q.10:- Who authored ‘Gitagovinda’?
 (a) Jayadeva (b) Raja Ram Mohan Roy
 (c) J. A. Hickey (d) Chandu Menon 
 
Answer Key of Multiple Choice Questions
1. (d) 2. (c) 3. (a) 4. (c) 5. (b) 6. (a) 7. (d) 8. (b) 9.(a) 10.(a)  

 1. They were copied on palm leaves or on handmade papers.
 2. Pages were beautifully illustrated.
 3. They were pressed between wooden covers or sewn together to ensure preservation.
 4. Manuscripts were available in vernacular languages.
 5. Highly expensive & fragile.
 6. They could not be read easily as script was written in different styles.
 7. They were not widely used in everyday life.

1. Production of handwritten manuscripts could not meet the ever increasing demand for books.
2. Copying was an expensive, laborious and time consuming business.
3. The manuscripts were fragile, awkward to handle and could not be carried around or read easily.
4. By the early 15th century, woodblocks started being widely used in Europe to print textiles, playing cards and religious pictures with simple, brief texts.

1. In the end of 19th century a new visual culture had started.
 2. With the increasing number of printing presses visual images could be easily reproduced in multiple copies.
3. Painters like ‘Raja Ravi Verma’ produced images for mass circulation.
4. Cheap prints and calendars were brought even by the poor to decorate the walls of their houses.

1. Collectively the writings of thinkers provided a critical commentary on tradition, superstition and despotism.
2. Scholars and thinkers argued for the rule of reason rather than custom and demanded that everything to be judged through the application of reason and rationality.
3. 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.
4. The writing of Voltaire and Rousseau were read widely and those who read these books saw the world through new eyes, eyes that were questioning critical and rational.

As literacy and schools spread in European countries there was a virtual reading mania.
1. A new forms of popular literature appeared to target new readers
2. There were ritual calendars along with ballads and folk tales.
3. In England penny chapbooks were carried by petty peddlers known as chapmen and sold for
a penny, So that even poor could buy them.
4. In France these law priced books were called Bibliotheque Bleue as they were bound in cheap blue covers.
5. There were romances, histories, books of various sixes, serving developed to combine information on current affairs with entertainment.
6. Periodical pressed developed to combine information on current affairs with entertainment.
7. The idea of scientists and scholars had now become more accessible to the common people.

Oral culture entered print into the following ways –
 1. Printers published popular ballads and folktales.
 2. Books were profusely illustrated with pictures. Printed material was transmitted orally in the following ways.
 I. These were sung at gathering in villages, taverns and in towns.
 II. They were recited in public gathering.

1. Writers started writing about the lives and features of women and this increased the number of women readers.
2. Women writers write their own autobiography. They highlighted the condition of women,
their ignorance and how they forced to do hard domestic labour.
3. A large section of Hindu writing was devoted to the education of women.
4. In the early 20th century the journals written by women become very popular in which women’s education, widowhood, widow remarriage were discussed.
5. Many writers published how to teach women to be obedient wives.

1. Visual images could be easily reproduced in multiple copies.
2. Printers produced images for mass circulation cheap prints and calendars could be brought even by the poor.
 3. By the 1870’s caricatures and cartoons were being published in journals and news papers.
4. Mass production of cost and visual images reduced the cost of production. So cheap prints and calendars were available in the market even for the poor to decorate the walls of their homes.

1. The print popularized the ideas of the enlightened thinkers who attacked the authority of the church and the despotic power of the state.
2. The print created a new culture of dialogue and debate and the public become aware of reasoning. They recognized the need to question the existing ideas and beliefs.
3. The literature of 1780’s mocked the royalty and criticized their morality and the existing social order. This literature led to the growth of hostile sentiments against.