Print Culture and the Modern World - Q&A

a) Woodblock print only came to Europe after 1295.

The technology of woodblock printing was initially developed in China. For centuries, this knowledge remained within East Asia. It was only in 1295 that the great explorer Marco Polo returned to Italy after many years of exploration in China. He brought the knowledge of woodblock printing back with him to Europe. Following this, Italians began producing books with woodblocks, and the technology eventually spread to other parts of Europe.

Martin Luther was in favour of print because it allowed the wide circulation of his ideas and challenged the established authority of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1517, he wrote the Ninety Five Theses, criticising the rituals and practices of the Church. A printed copy was posted on a church door in Wittenberg, and his writings were immediately reproduced in vast numbers and read widely. This led to the Protestant Reformation. Deeply grateful for the medium, Luther said, "Printing is the ultimate gift of God and the greatest one."

The Church began keeping an Index of Prohibited Books because print and popular religious literature stimulated individual interpretations of faith, often challenging official teachings. For example, in the sixteenth century, Menocchio, a miller in Italy, read books available in his locality and formulated a view of God and Creation that enraged the Roman Catholic Church. The Church viewed such independent questioning and "heretical" ideas as a threat to its authority. Consequently, they imposed severe controls over publishers and booksellers and established the Index in 1558 to repress such ideas.

Gandhi considered these three liberties as powerful vehicles for expressing and cultivating public opinion. During the freedom struggle, the colonial government constantly sought to regulate and suppress these freedoms to curb nationalist sentiment. Gandhi believed that without the freedom to speak, print, and associate, true self-rule (Swaraj) was impossible. Therefore, he emphasized that the fight for Swaraj was intrinsically linked to the fight for these fundamental democratic freedoms.

a) The Gutenberg Press

The Gutenberg Press was the first printing press, developed by Johann Gutenberg in Strasbourg, Germany, in the 1430s. Gutenberg adapted existing technology to create this innovation:
1. He used the olive press as a model for the printing press.
2. He used moulds to cast metal types for the letters of the alphabet.
By 1448, he perfected the system. The first book he printed was the Bible, producing 180 copies in three years. This invention started the Print Revolution, shifting book production from hand printing to mechanical printing.

Erasmus, a Latin scholar and Catholic reformer, was critical of the print revolution. He expressed deep anxiety about the "swarms" of new books. His main concerns were:
1. A "glut" of books would be hurtful to scholarship.
2. Printers filled the world with "stupid, ignorant, slanderous, scandalous, raving, irreligious and seditious books."
3. He feared that the sheer number of worthless books would cause valuable publications to lose their value.

The Vernacular Press Act was passed in 1878 by the British colonial government in India. It was modelled on the Irish Press Laws. The Act gave the government extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in vernacular (local language) newspapers. The government kept regular track of these newspapers. If a report was judged as seditious, the newspaper was warned. If the warning was ignored, the press was liable to be seized and the printing machinery confiscated. This was an attempt to silence nationalist criticism of colonial rule.

a) Women

For women, the spread of print culture meant a new platform for expression and education:
1. Education: Liberal families began educating women at home or sent them to schools. Penny magazines and journals carried syllabi and teaching manuals for women.
2. Expression: Women began to write about their own lives and feelings. Rashsundari Debi wrote Amar Jiban, the first autobiography in Bengali. Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai wrote passionately about the miserable lives of upper-caste Hindu widows.
3. Leisure: Women became a major segment of the reading public, enjoying novels and literature in their leisure time.

For the poor, print culture offered access to knowledge and a voice against injustice:
1. Access: Very cheap small books were sold at crossroads, making them affordable. Public libraries were set up in towns and villages.
2. Social Protest: Issues of caste discrimination and class exploitation were highlighted. Jyotiba Phule wrote Gulamgiri exposing the caste system. B.R. Ambedkar and Periyar wrote powerfully on caste.
3. Self-expression: Millworkers like Kashibaba (Kanpur) wrote books like Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal to show the link between caste and class exploitation.

For reformers, print was a tool for public debate and social change:
1. Spreading Ideas: They used newspapers and tracts to spread new ideas and criticize existing social practices like widow immolation, idolatry, and monotheism.
2. Countering Orthodoxy: They engaged in intense debates with the orthodoxy. For example, Rammohun Roy published the Sambad Kaumudi to propagate his reformist views, while the Hindu orthodoxy published the Samachar Chandrika to oppose him.
3. Mobilization: Print allowed them to reach a wider audience and shape the nature of public debate.

Many people in eighteenth-century Europe believed print would bring enlightenment and end despotism for the following reasons:
1. Spread of Reason: Print popularised the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire and Rousseau, who argued for the rule of reason rather than custom and attacked the sacred authority of the Church and the despotic power of the State.
2. Dialogue and Debate: Print created a new culture of dialogue where existing values, norms, and institutions were re-evaluated and discussed by the public.
3. Criticism of Monarchy: Literature that mocked the royalty and criticised their morality became popular, raising questions about the existing social order.
4. Power of Public Opinion: Thinkers like Louise-Sebastien Mercier proclaimed that the printing press was the "most powerful engine of progress" that would unleash public opinion and sweep away despotism.

Some people feared easily available printed books because they believed that if there was no control over what was printed and read, rebellious and irreligious thoughts might spread, destroying the authority of 'valuable' literature and established institutions.

Example from Europe: The Roman Catholic Church feared the spread of heretical ideas. When Menocchio, a miller in Italy, reinterpreted the Bible after reading books available in his locality, the Church was enraged. They viewed this as a threat to their theological authority, leading to the Inquisition and the creation of the Index of Prohibited Books.

Example from India: Conservative Hindus and Muslims feared the impact of print on women. Conservative Hindus believed that a literate girl would be widowed. Muslims feared that educated women would be corrupted by reading Urdu romances. Additionally, the colonial government feared that the vernacular press would spread seditious nationalist ideas, threatening their rule.

The spread of print culture had significant effects on the poor in nineteenth-century India:
1. Accessibility: Very cheap small books were brought to markets and sold at crossroads, allowing the poor to buy them.
2. Libraries: Public libraries were set up in cities, towns, and some prosperous villages, expanding access to books.
3. Awareness of Injustice: Print media highlighted issues of caste discrimination. Jyotiba Phule’s Gulamgiri (1871) exposed the injustices of the caste system. The writings of B.R. Ambedkar and E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker (Periyar) were read by people all over India.
4. Voice for Workers: Workers began to write about their experiences. Kashibaba, a Kanpur millworker, wrote Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal (1938) to show the links between caste and class exploitation. Bangalore cotton millworkers set up libraries to educate themselves.

Print culture played a crucial role in the growth of nationalism in India:
1. Connecting Communities: Newspapers conveyed news from one place to another, connecting people from different regions and creating a sense of pan-Indian identity.
2. Criticism of Colonial Rule: Despite censorship, nationalist newspapers reported on colonial misrule and encouraged nationalist activities. They acted as a weapon against the colonial government.
3. Spread of Ideas: Nationalist leaders used print to spread their ideas. For example, Balgangadhar Tilak wrote with great sympathy about Punjab revolutionaries in his newspaper Kesari, which provoked widespread protests and fueled the nationalist movement.
4. Visual Culture: Nationalist cartoons and caricatures criticising imperial rule and asserting Indian identity became popular, shaping popular ideas about politics and resistance.