Print Culture and Modern World Notes Chapter 5 Class 10 History

Notes For All Chapters History Class 10 CBSE

Introduction

• Today, print is everywhere – books, newspapers, advertisements, calendars, posters, diaries, journals, etc.
• But there was a time when print did not exist.
• Print has a long history that shaped the modern world.
• This chapter explains:
  • The beginnings of print in East Asia
  • Its spread to Europe and India
  • The impact of print on society, culture, politics, and religion

1. The First Printed Books

In China

• Printing technology first developed in China, Japan, Korea.
• Around AD 594:
  • Books were printed by rubbing paper against the inked surface of woodblocks.
  • Pages were folded in the form of a Chinese accordion book.
• Imperial China:
  • Civil service exams required many textbooks → state sponsored mass printing.
  • By 17th century, urban culture grew → print used for trade information, fiction, poetry, plays, autobiographies.
  • Women also began reading and writing.
• 19th century: Western mechanical presses were imported, especially in Shanghai → shift from hand-printing to machine-printing.

Print in Japan

• Introduced by Buddhist missionaries from China (AD 768–770).
• Oldest Japanese book: Diamond Sutra (AD 868).
• Uses of print:
  • On textiles, playing cards, paper money, paintings.
  • In Edo (Tokyo), illustrated books showed urban culture, courtesans, teahouses.
• Ukiyo prints: “Pictures of the floating world” – everyday urban life.
  • Artist: Kitagawa Utamaro → influenced European artists like Monet, Van Gogh.

2. Print Comes to Europe

• Silk Route brought silk, spices, and later Chinese paper to Europe (11th century).
• Marco Polo (1295) brought woodblock printing knowledge from China.
• Early Europe:
  • Booksellers employed scribes for hand-copied manuscripts.
  • But manuscripts were costly, fragile, and slow to produce.
• By 15th century → woodblock printing common for pictures, textiles, playing cards.
• Need for faster reproduction → invention of new press.

Gutenberg and the Printing Press

• Invented by Johann Gutenberg in the 1430s (Strasbourg, Germany).
• Inspired by olive and wine presses.
• He created movable metal type for each letter → reusable.
• First printed book: Gutenberg Bible (about 180 copies, 3 years to print).
• By 1450–1550: Printing presses spread across Europe.
• By 16th century: 200 million books produced.
• This marked the Print Revolution.

3. The Print Revolution and Its Impact

A New Reading Public

• Printing reduced cost of books → more copies, wider availability.
• Before: Oral culture (stories recited, texts read aloud).
• Now: Reading culture emerged, though literacy was low.
• Printers published ballads, folk tales, illustrated books to attract common people.
• Oral and print culture mixed together.

Religious Debates and the Fear of Print

• Print spread ideas, encouraged debate.
• Many feared it would spread rebellious/irreligious thoughts.
• Example: Martin Luther (1517) → wrote Ninety-Five Theses against Catholic Church practices.
  • Posted on a church door in Wittenberg.
  • His writings were widely printed → started Protestant Reformation.
  • Luther: “Printing is the ultimate gift of God.”

Print and Dissent

• Print allowed ordinary people to interpret religion.
• Example: Menocchio, an Italian miller, reinterpreted the Bible → executed by the Church.
• Church created the Index of Prohibited Books (1558) to control dissent.

4. The Reading Mania

• 17th–18th centuries: Literacy rates rose in Europe (up to 80% in some places).
• New popular literature:
  • Almanacs (calendars, festivals, tides, eclipses).
  • Chapbooks in England (cheap, pocket-size books).
  • Bibliotheque Bleue in France (cheap blue-cover books).
  • Romances, histories, ballads.
• Periodical press (newspapers, journals) → spread news, science, philosophy.
• Ideas of Newton, Rousseau, Voltaire, Thomas Paine spread widely.

Print and the French Revolution

• Print helped spread Enlightenment ideas:
  1. Criticism of tradition, superstition, despotism.
  2. Created culture of debate and questioning.
  3. Mocked royalty with cartoons, caricatures, underground literature.
• Print opened possibilities of thinking differently → basis for French Revolution.

5. The Nineteenth Century

Children, Women, Workers

• Compulsory education → textbooks and children’s literature.
• Grimm Brothers (Germany) collected and edited folk tales (1812).
• Women became important readers and writers → Jane Austen, Bronte sisters, George Eliot.
• Lending libraries spread knowledge to workers and middle class.
• Workers also wrote political tracts, autobiographies.

Further Innovations

• Printing press made of metal → faster printing.
• Power-driven cylindrical press (Richard Hoe, mid-19th century) → 8,000 sheets/hour.
• Offset press (late 19th century) → printed in colour.
• Cheap paperbacks (20th century) increased accessibility.

6. India and the World of Print

Manuscripts before Print

• India had rich tradition of handwritten manuscripts (Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, vernaculars).
• Written on palm leaves or handmade paper, illustrated, but fragile and expensive.
• Not widely used by common people.

Print Comes to India

• Portuguese missionaries in Goa brought press (mid-16th century).
• Printed in Konkani, Tamil, Malayalam.
• First English newspaper: Bengal Gazette (1780) by James Augustus Hickey.
• Indian-owned newspaper: Bengal Gazette (Gangadhar Bhattacharya).

7. Religious Reform and Public Debates

• 19th century: Social and religious debates flourished in print.
• Hindus:
  • Rammohun Roy’s Sambad Kaumudi (1821).
  • Orthodox Hindus countered with Samachar Chandrika.
• Muslims:
  • Urdu & Persian newspapers spread reform ideas.
  • Deoband Seminary (1867) published fatwas.
• Hindus (vernacular):
  • Printed versions of Ramcharitmanas and other texts.
  • Naval Kishore Press (Lucknow), Shri Venkateshwar Press (Bombay).
• Newspapers connected different regions, created pan-Indian identities.

8. New Forms of Publication

• Rise of novels, short stories, essays, lyrics.
• Visual culture:
  • Prints, calendars, advertisements, cartoons.
  • Artists: Raja Ravi Varma.
• Caricatures mocked British rulers, educated Indians, social changes.

Women and Print

• Women’s reading increased in middle-class families.
• Some resisted restrictions (e.g., Rashsundari Debi wrote Amar Jiban, 1876).
• Writers: Kailashbashini Debi, Tarabai Shinde, Pandita Ramabai.
• Women’s journals (20th century) discussed education, widowhood, fashion, nationalism.

Print and Poor People

• Cheap books sold at crossroads.
• Public libraries spread in towns and villages.
• Anti-caste writings: Jyotiba Phule (Gulamgiri, 1871), Ambedkar, Periyar.
• Workers’ writings: Kashibaba (Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal, 1938), Sudarshan Chakr’s poems.

9. Print and Censorship

• Before 1798: British worried more about criticism from Europeans in India.
• 1820s: Calcutta Supreme Court tried to control press.
• 1835: Governor-General Bentinck restored some press freedoms.
• After 1857: Stricter control on Indian press.
• Vernacular Press Act (1878): Allowed government to censor, seize printing machines.
• Despite restrictions, nationalist newspapers grew (e.g., Tilak’s Kesari).
• During WWI & WWII, stricter censorship on nationalist writings.