Chapter 5 Print Culture and the Modern World Class 10th Notes History
Chapter 5 Print Culture and the Modern World Class 10th Notes History Social Science
Chapter 5, "The Age of Industrialisation" from Class 10 History, revolves around the transformation brought about by industrialization. It discusses the development of factories, its influence on labour and society, and how industrialization spread to many regions. This will also speaks about the contribution of proto-industrialization, the impact of colonial policies upon industries, and how different sections responded to the industrial changes.
The History of Printing
Individuals did not have printing before, and they wrote by hand on materials such as stone, leather, palm leaves, and animal skin (vellum). Ideas and information were transmitted mainly orally, and hence it was challenging to hold information and transmit information over a distance. Printing changed this by allowing mass production of newspapers and books, which made information more accessible to more people and minimized transmission error.
Printing in China (Ancient Ages – 16th Century)
Printing initially came into use in China, where woodblock printing began in 594 AD.
Woodblock printing gained widespread use during the Tang Dynasty (618 AD), which employed it to propagate Buddhism and administrative information.
Bi Sheng invented movable type printing with ceramic material in the 11th century, but woodblock printing continued extensively in use.
Woodblock printing was brought to Japan (768 AD) by Chinese missionaries for the spread of Buddhism and affected Japanese society and government.
The Diamond Sutra (868 AD), the earliest existing printed book, was printed in Japan, including Buddhist texts.
Novels, encyclopedias, and books for preparing examinations were widely popular in China in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644).
Printing in Europe (14th – 15th Century)
Paper-making technology of China was brought to Europe through the Silk Route, which changed the process of book-making.
Prior to paper, writing in Europe was done on vellum (animal hide), which was costly and limited to the elite.
Woodblock printing arrived in Europe during the 14th century, but it took a long while, was labor-intensive, expensive, and not suitable for mass production.
Johannes Gutenberg (15th century) developed the movable-type printing press, which changed book-printing and made books cheaper.
Gutenberg's Printing Press (15th Century)
Gutenberg employed metal moulds to cast movable type to replace woodblocks, which were time-consuming to cut and re-use.
His press was similar to an olive press, squishing inked metal type onto paper, rendering the process efficient.
It provided lower and faster printing, hence the Printing Revolution and greater literacy.
More than 200 million books existed in Europe in the 16th century, causing an education, literature, and scientific study boom.
The Gutenberg Bible (1455), the major printed book per se, was of very high typography and layout stastandard.
The Print Revolution and Its Impact
The printing press introduced radical intellectual and social transformations:
■ Books were made affordable, thus available to the middle class and ordinary people.
■ A new reading public existed, and this lowered the use of oral stories and manuscripts.
■ Information moved swiftly, thus spread scientific discoveries and political thought far and wide.
■ Pictures presented the potential to transmit books to illiterates and thus made print an all-universal vehicle.
■ Formal books enhanced Europe's communication and education.
However, still, the revolution of printing imposed pressures on religious and political powers and also brought about restraint and censorship.
Printing and Religious Conflicts
The Roman Catholic Church initially welcomed printing for the dissemination of religious teachings and Bibles.
But printing later spread contradictory religious teachings and thereby created controversies and reform movements.
Martin Luther (1517) employed printing in an effort to challenge the Catholic Church and initiate the Protestant Reformation.
His Ninety-Five Theses became extremely popular, denouncing corruption in the Church and questioning all over Europe.
The Church was also guilty of promulgating anti-faith ideologies and books that were proscribed, preponing the Index of Prohibited Books (1558) for restricting knowledge.
Frenzy of Reading and Literacy (17th – 18th Century)
Literacy had increased in all of Europe through church-established schools and having books of study made available for purchase.
60-80% of Europeans became literate in the 18th century, and especially so, in urban centres.
Cheap printed materials, such as penny chapbooks (England) and Bibliothèque Bleue (France), gained popularity among the common people.
Scientific and philosophical ideas were brought within reach, and Enlightenment ideas spread as a consequence.
Rational and scientific ideas were spread by philosophers like Isaac Newton, Voltaire, and Rousseau in print, opposing superstition and absolute monarchy.
It was believed by many that books could change society, and it led to the French Revolution (1789).
Print Culture and the French Revolution
Print culture is believed by historians to have led to the French Revolution in three ways:
1. Dissemination of Enlightenment Ideas:
Authors such as Voltaire and Rousseau critiqued monarchy, feudalism, and religious rule.
They wrote so that they challenged individuals to ask for equality, democracy, and human rights.
2. Public Discourse:
Print provided a platform for political discourse, where individuals could criticize the then-prevailing social arrangement.
Political newspapers and pamphlets opposed the ruling elite and spread revolutionary ideas.
3. Criticism of the Monarchy:
Pamphlets, cartoons, and satirical writings mocked King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, who were spending so much at a time when people were suffering from poverty.
Print was therefore instrumental in generating revolutionary feeling.
Printing in the 19th Century – Mass Literacy and Women's Role
Education grew as compulsory education grew throughout Europe.
Children's literature and fairy tales (Grimm Brothers, 1857) became popular, setting moral codes and imagination.
Women became active readers and writers, and the Brontë sisters' and Jane Austen's novels encouraged female independence.
Lending libraries enabled workers to learn and campaign for improved working conditions and rights.
Technological inventions, such as the cylindrical press (19th century), facilitated printing 8,000 pages per hour, and books and newspapers were on offer.
Development of Printing in India
Pre-Printing: Indian Manuscripts
Manuscripts were scripted on palm leaves and hand-written paper in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, and regional languages.
They were delicate, costly, and laborious to duplicate, and hence they were in short supply.
Coming of Printing to India
Portuguese missionaries (16th century) brought printing to Goa, mainly for religious works.
Malayalam books were printed by 1713.
The first English newspaper, the Bengal Gazette (1780), was started by James Augustus Hickey.
Newspapers were potent instruments of colonial criticism, social reform, and public debate.
Printing and Religious Reform in Colonial India
Religious communities employed printing to disseminate and argue over ideas.
Rammohun Roy's Sambad Kaumudi advocated social reform and women's rights.
Vernacular books were written by Hindu and Muslim thinkers to reach local readers.
Increasing religious arguments made the national identity more robust.
New Types of Literature in India
Printing technology facilitated advances in Indian literature :
■ Novels, essays, and articles discussed social and political themes.
■ Artists such as Raja Ravi Varma produced large-sized prints for the masses.
■ Caricatures and cartoons mocked social injustice and British occupation.
■ New literary forms emerged in the shape of historical novels, short stories, and political essays.
■ Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel "Anandamath" (1882) and the song "Vande Mataram" ignited patriotic sentiments.
■ Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand, and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay used literature to reflect social issues, discrimination based on caste, and the women's cause.
■ Newspapers and periodicals like The Hindu, Kesari (edited by Bal Gangadhar Tilak), and Amrita Bazar Patrika picked up steam in agitating people against the British.
■ Satirical reports and cartoons aimed at colonial decisions and venal Indian elites and developed a readership that was politically conscious.
■ Increased popularity of books in vernacular languages united Indians against colonial rule.
Women and Print in India
More women were educated through the availability of printed matter and magazines.
Women began to be instructed in reading secretly nearly everywhere despite patriarchal family opposition.
Rashsundari Debi (Bengal) penned "Amar Jiban" (1876), one of the first autobiographies penned by an Indian woman, as proof of women's fight to receive education.
Pandita Ramabai, the social reformer, preached education and rights among women via literature.
Women's magazines and journals, like Bharati (Bengal) and the Tamil-language "India Ladies' Magazine", discussed widow remarriage, women's work, and social reforms.
Although some reformists welcomed women's education, orthodox sections feared that education would make women into disobedient women.
Women had begun entering journalism, writing, and nationalist movements by the early 20th century, demanding equal opportunities and rights.
Printing for the Poor and the Working Class
Affordable books were sold at bazaars, railway stations, and crossroads and made learning accessible to the poor.
Books were constructed in towns, cities, and affluent villages, with support from local benefactors or reform associations.
Caste problems were debated widely using print:
Jyotiba Phule's "Gulamgiri" (1871) condemned Brahminical oppression.
B.R. Ambedkar's works imparted Dalit rights and social justice.
Periyar (E.V. Ramasamy) employed pamphlets and newspapers in the struggle of self-respect movements and caste equality.
Industrial workers started articulating their misery:
Kashibaba, a mill worker employee by class, authored "Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal" (1938), setting cause and effect between oppression of class and oppression of caste.
Poetry by Sudarshan Chakra, a worker in a mill, had labor rights and oppression as its key themes.
Library movements by workers started to open up in cities like Bangalore and Bombay during the 1930s, and education and social reforms were enabled.
Print was used as a tool of social change, empowering dominated groups.
Print and Censorship in Colonial India
The British East India Company did not have a monopoly on the press prior to 1798.
But as soon as newspapers started criticizing British governance, censorship legislation was enacted.
Major Press Regulations and Censorship Laws:
Press Censorship Act (1799):
Proposed by Lord Wellesley during the Napoleonic Wars to prevent French influence in India.
Government permission was required prior to publishing material.
Licensing Regulations (1823):
Issued by Governor-General John Adams to suppress oppositional dailies.
Indian editors were sternly interrogated, and several newspapers were closed.
Press Act (1835) & Metcalfe's Reforms:
Governor-General Charles Metcalfe revoked previous censorship acts, encouraging press freedom.
Nicknamed the "Liberator of the Indian Press".
Vernacular Press Act (1878):
Passed by Lord Lytton to regulate Indian-language papers that were pro-British.
Herkened the British to arrest editors and confiscate printing presses without a trial.
Targets papers such as Amrita Bazar Patrika that switched over-night from English to Bengali to English to escape the law.
Newspapers Act (1908 & 1910):
Granted unbridled powers to the British to quell nationalist papers.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was arrested and imprisoned in 191.
His arrest prompted massive protests, attributing the role of print in creating nationalist movements.
In spite of censorship and proscription, newspapers remained immensely pertinent to India's struggle for freedom.