NAV
JEEVAN MISSION SCHOOL
HISTORY
( X )
PRINT, CULTURE AND THE MODERN WORLD
CHAPTER
07
NCERT TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS
Q 1 Explain how print culture
assisted the growth of nationalism in India.
Ans: Print culture helped in developing a
culture of dialogue among people. Ideas of social reform could be spread in a
better way. Gandhiji spread his ideas of swadeshi in powerful way through
newspapers. Many vernacular newspapers came up in India. These helped in
spreading the message of nationalism to majority of the Indian masses. Even in
spite of repressive measures print culture was a revolution which could not be
stopped.
Q 2 Give reasons for the following:
Woodblock print only came to Europe after 1295.
Ans: Marco Polo returned to Italy from China in 1295
and brought with him the knowledge of woodblock printing.
Martin Luther was in favour of print and spoke out
in praise of it.
Ans: Martin Luther’s criticism of Roman Catholic Church
reached a large section of masses because of print. Hence he was in favour of
print and spoke out in praise of it.
The Roman Catholic Church began keeping an Index
of Prohibited books from the mid-sixteenth century.
Ans: Because of print new interpretation of Bible reached to
people and they started questioning the authority of church. Due to this the
Roman Catholic Church began keeping and index of Prohibited books from the mid
– sixteenth century.
Gandhi said the fight for Swaraj is a fight for
liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and freedom of association.
Ans: The power of the printed word is most often seen in the
way governments seek to regulate and suppress print. The colonial government
kept continuous track of all books and newspapers published in India and passed
numerous laws to control the press. Because of this Gandhi said the fight for
Swaraj is a fight for liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and freedom of
association.
Q 3 Write short notes on following:
·
The Gutenberg Press
Ans: Gutenberg was the son of a merchant and grew up on a
large agricultural estate. From his childhood he had seen wine and olive
presses. Subsequently, he learnt the art of polishing stones, became a master
goldsmith, and also acquired the expertise to create lead moulds used for
making trinkets. Drawing on this knowledge, Gutenberg adapted existing
technology to design his innovation. The olive press provided the model for the
printing press, and moulds were used for casting the metal types for the
letters of the alphabet. By 1448, Gutenberg perfected the system. The
first book he printed was the Bible. About 180 copies were printed and
it took three years to produce them. By the standards of the time this was fast
production.
·
Erasmus’s idea of the printed book
Ans: Erasmus thought that books were not good for sanctity
of scholastic knowledge. He was of the opinion that printed books would glut
the market with contents which will do more harm than good to society. Because
of this the value of good content would be lost in the din.
·
The Vernacular Press Act
Answer: In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was
passed, modelled on the Irish Press Laws. It provided the government with
extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press. From
now on the government kept regular track of the vernacular newspapers published
in different provinces. When a report was judged as seditious, the newspaper
was warned, and if the warning was ignored, the press was liable to be seized
and the printing machinery confiscated.
Q 4 What did the spread of print culture in nineteenth century India
mean to:
WOMEN
Ans: Because of printing technique books
became cheaper. Many hawkers started selling books from door to door. This
created easy availability of books for majority of women. Apart from this many
liberal males encouraged women from their families to read. Novels contained
interesting descriptions of women’s lives. This created interest among women
readers. Women, who were earlier cocooned inside their homes could now know
about the outside world thanks to the print technology. This created a spurt of
many women writers in India. It can be said that print culture not only created
readers among women but also writers among them.
THE POOR
Ans: Very cheap small books were brought to
markets in nineteenth-century Madras towns and sold at crossroads, allowing
poor people traveling to markets to buy them. Public libraries were set up from
the early twentieth century, expanding the access to books.
From the late nineteenth century, issues of caste
discrimination began to be written about in many printed tracts and essays.
This helped in bringing these issues to the forefront of public consciousness.
Workers in factories were too overworked and lacked the
education to write much about their experiences. But some workers took
initiative to write stories about their conditions. These narratives contained
issues related to class oppression. So worker’s problems also came to the fore.
Q 5 What did the spread of
print culture in nineteenth century India mean to reformers?
Answer: From the early nineteenth century
there were intense debates around religious issues. Different groups confronted
the changes happening within colonial society in different ways, and offered a
variety of new interpretations of the beliefs of different religions. Some criticised
existing practices and campaigned for reform, while others countered the
arguments of reformers. These debates were carried out in public and in print.
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. New ideas emerged through these clashes of
opinions.
This was a time of intense controversies between social
and religious reformers and the 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. To reach a wider audience, the ideas were printed in the everyday,
spoken language of ordinary people.
Q 6 Why did some people in
eighteenth century Europe think that print culture would bring enlightenment
and end despotism?
Ans: Because of print books became
affordable for masses. This helped in spreading revolutionary ideas to a vast
section of society in a more efficient way. Many contemporary thinkers, like Martin
Luther and Monochhio could fire people’s imagination because of help from
print technology. Even for scientists it became easier to share knowledge and
spread knowledge. So, people in eighteenth century Europe started thinking that
print culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism.
Q 7 Why did some people fear
the effect of easily available printed books? Choose one example from Europe
and one from India.
Ans: Not everyone welcomed the printed
book, and those who did also had fears about it. Many were apprehensive of the
effects that the easier access to the printed word and the 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 thoughts might
spread. If that happened the authority of ‘valuable’ literature would be
destroyed. Expressed by religious authorities and monarchs, as well as many writers
and artists, this anxiety was the basis of widespread criticism of the new
printed literature that had began to circulate.
Example from Europe: Erasmus thought that books
were not good for sanctity of scholastic knowledge. He was of the opinion that
printed books would glut the market with contents which will do more harm than
good to society. Because of this the value of good content would be lost in the
din.
Example from India: Conservative Hindus believed
that a literate girl would be widowed and Muslims feared that educated women
would be corrupted by reading Urdu romances.
Q 8 How did
print culture affect women in the 19th century India?
Ans: Because of printing
technique books became cheaper. Many hawkers started selling books from door to
door. This created easy availability of books for majority of women. Apart from
this many liberal males encouraged women from their families to read. Novels
contained interesting descriptions of women’s lives. This created interest
among women readers. Women, who were earlier cocooned inside their homes could
now know about the outside world thanks to the print technology. This created a
spurt of many women writers in India. It can be said that print culture not
only created readers among women but also writers among them.
Q 9 Describe the role of
nationalist newspaper in spreading nationalistic feelings among the people in
the early 20th century.
Answer: Despite repressive measures,
nationalist newspapers grew in numbers in all parts of India. They reported on
colonial misrule and encouraged nationalist activities. Attempts to throttle
nationalist criticism provoked militant protest. This in turn led to a renewed
cycle of persecution and protests. When Punjab revolutionaries were deported in
1907, Balgangadhar Tilak wrote with great sympathy about them in
his Kesari. This led to his imprisonment in 1908, provoking in
turn widespread protests all over India. Thus nationalist newspaper played
important role in spreading nationalistic feelings among people in the early
20th century.
Q 10 How did the print culture
help scientist and philosopher?
Ans: 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. When scientists like Isaac Newton began to
publish their discoveries, they could influence a much wider circle of
scientifically minded readers. The writings of thinkers such as Thomas Paine,
Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau were also widely printed and read. Thus
their ideas about science, reason and rationality found their way into popular
literature.
Q 11 Print did not only
stimulate publication of conflicting opinions among different communities but
also connected them in the 19th century India. Support this statement with
examples.
Ans: From the early nineteenth century, as
you know, there were intense debates around religious issues. Different groups
confronted the changes happening within colonial society in different ways, and
offered a variety of new interpretations of the beliefs of different religions.
Some criticised existing practices and campaigned for reform, while others
countered the arguments of reformers. These debates were carried out in public and
in print. 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. New ideas emerged through these
clashes of opinions.
Print did not only stimulate the publication of
conflicting opinions among 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.
Q 12 What do you understand by
print revolution?
Ans: With the printing press, a new reading
public emerged. Printing reduced the cost of books. The time and labour
required to produce each book came down, and multiple copies could be produced
with greater ease. Books flooded the market, reaching out to an ever-growing
readership.
Access to books created a new culture of reading.
Earlier, reading was restricted to the elites. Common people lived in a world
of oral culture. They heard sacred texts read out, ballads recited, and folk
tales narrated. Knowledge was transferred orally. People collectively heard a
story, or saw a performance. 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. If earlier there was a hearing public,
now a reading public came into being.
Q 13 How were ideas and
information written before the age of print in India? How did the printing
technique begin in India? Explain.
Ans: Age of Manuscripts: India had a very
rich and old tradition of handwritten manuscripts – in Sanskrit, Arabic,
Persian, as well as in various vernacular languages. Manuscripts were copied on
palm leaves or on handmade paper. Pages were sometimes beautifully illustrated.
They would be either pressed between wooden covers or sewn together to ensure
preservation. Manuscripts continued to be produced till well after the
introduction of print, down to the late nineteenth century.
Beginning of Printing Technique in India: The
printing press first came to Goa with Portuguese missionaries in the
mid-sixteenth century. Jesuit priests learnt Konkani and printed several
tracts. By 1674, about 50 books had been printed in the Konkani and in Kanara
languages. Catholic priests printed the first Tamil book in 1579 at Cochin, and
in 1713 the first Malayalam book was printed by them. By 1710, Dutch Protestant
missionaries had printed 32 Tamil texts, many of them translations of older
works.
Q 14 How did printing press create a new reading
public? Explain.
Ans. With the printing press, a new reading public emerged.
(i) Printing reduced the cost of books.
(ii) The time and labour to produce each book
came down. Multiple copies could be produced
easily.
(iii) Books flooded the market, reaching out
to an ever growing readership.
(iv) It created a new culture of reading.
(v) Common people could not read books
earlier, only the elite could. Common people heard
a story or saw a performance collectively.
(vi) Instead of a hearing public now there
was a reading public.
(vii) The rate of literacy in European
countries was also low till the 20th century. Publishers
Reached
out to people by making them listen to books being read out.
(vii) Printers published popular ballads and
folktales, profusely illustrated. These were then
sung and recited at village
gatherings in taverns in towns. Oral culture thus entered print and printed
material was orally transmitted,
Hearing and reading public, thus became one.
