Question Answers of Print Culture and Modern World

SHORT TYPE QUESTION ANSWERS OF PRINT CULTURE AND MODERN WORLD

Q.1: Describe in brief how printing developed in Japan.
Answer:
a. Buddhist missionaries from China introduced hand writing technology around AD 768-770
b. The oldest Japanese book Diamond sutra was printed in AD 868
c. Pictures were printed on textiles, playing cards and money.
d. Printing of visual material led to interesting publishing practices
e. Book of various types related to women, musical instruments, calculations, tea ceremony, flower arrangements, proper etiquette, cooking, and famous places were printed
f. In medieval Japan works of poets and prose writers were regularly published.

Q.2: “Access to books created a new culture of reading”. Support this statement.
Answer:
a) Earlier reading was confined only among the elite now books reached out wider sections to people this lead to the emergence of reading public.
b) To attract readers printers published and illustrated popular ballads and folk tales.
These were sung and recited in gatherings in the villages and in taverns in towns.
c) New forms of popular literature appeared in print targeting new audiences.
d) Books sellers employed peddlars and chapman to sell low price books serving many different purposes and interest.
e) Lending libraries in England became instrumental for educating white collar workers artisans and lower middle class peoples.
f) Women and children became important category of readers when books related to their interest were printed.

3. What were the contributions of scientists in the development of popular literature?
Answer:
a) Ideas of scientists became accessible to the people due to print technology.
b) Ancient and medieval scientific texts maps and scientific diagrams were compiled and published.
c) When scientists like Isaac Newton published their discoveries and inventions it helped to influence a much wider circle of scientically minded readers which helped to promote scientific development.
d) In this way ideas of science reasoning and rationality became popular themes of literature.

Q.4: How were manuscripts written before the age of print? List some draw backs of manuscripts.
Answer:
a) In India manuscripts were written in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and various vernacular languages.
b) Manuscripts were copied on palm leaves or hand made paper. Pages were beautifully illustrated.
c) Paper was pressed between wooden covers or sewn together to ensure preservation.
Its drawbacks:
a) Preparation of manuscripts needed a lot of time. They were very expensive.
b) Manuscripts were fragile so they had to be handled carefully.
c) They could not be read easily as the script was in different styles.

Q.5: Explain any three features of handwritten manuscripts before the age of print in India?
Answer:
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.

Q.6: Why did the woodblock method become popular in Europe?
Answer:
1. Production of handwritten manuscripts could not meet the ever increasing demand for books.
2. Copying was an expensive, labourious 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.

Q.7: What was the role of new ‘visual image’ culture in printing in India?
Answer:
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.

Q.8: “Print popularized the ideas of the idea of the enlightenment thinkers.” Explain.
Answer:
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.

Q.9: Why is china called the major producer of printed material?
Answer:
1. The imperial state in china was, for a very long time, the major producer of printed material.
2. China possessed a huge bureaucratic system which recruited its personnel through the civil service examination.
3. Textbooks for this examination were printed in vast numbers, under the sponsorship of the imperial state. From the 16th century, the number of candidates went up and the increased the volume of print.

LONG TYPE QUESTION ANSWERS OF PRINT CULTURE AND MODERN WORLD

Q.1: Throw light on the contribution of Indian women in publication.
Answer:
a) As various types of reading book material focussed on lives and feelings of women it encouraged women not only to read but also to write.
b) Rashsundari Debi a young married women from an orthodox family who learnt to read in secrecy in her kitchen wrote her autobiography Amar Jiban which was published in 1876. This was the first autobiography written in Bengali language.
c) Kailashbhasini Debi another lady of Bengal wrote books highlighting the miserable condition of women, how they were imprisoned in their household, kept in ignorance and forced to do hard domestic work but were treated very unjustly by family members whom they served.
d) Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai of Maharashtra wrote with passionate anger about the miserable lives of upper caste Hindu women especially widows.

Q.2: Discuss some merits of printed books.
Answer:
a) Printed books reached out to wider sections of people increased literacy level and created a new reading culture.
b) Books became a source of progress and enlightenment.
c) New ideas through print made people think differently and take action.
d) It introduced a new world of debate and discussions.
e) When publishers used different technology to print books became affordable for poor people also.
f) Ideas of scientists and philosophers, thinkers became accessible to all common people.
g) This led people to question established principles and attack blind beliefs. In
Europe it led to the reformation movement. In India social reformers and nationalist leaders used it as a vehicle to spread their ideas.
These books helped to bring about a lot of change in all parts of the world.

Q.3: How did the print culture create the conditions for French Revolution? Explain.
Answer:
a) Print culture popularised the ideas of enlightened thinkers. Their writings provided a critical commentary on tradition superstition and despotism. This led to a new culture of reasoning and rationality. Ideas of philosophers like Voltaire and Rousseau were published and circulated in this way people came to know about good practices of the church and the despotic rule.
b) Printed culture created a new world of debate and dialogue. All values, norms and institutions were re-evaluated and discussed by a public that had become aware of the power of reason and recognised the need to question existing ideas and beliefs this led to new ideas of social revolution came into being.
c) By the 1780’s there was an outpouring of literature that mocked the royalty and criticised their morality. Through cartoons and caricatures evils of the monarchy were projected and circulated this made the people turn against the monarchy.
d) Printed material thus helped people to think differently and take action.

Q.4: What led the colonial government to pass the vernacular Press Act in 1878? How did it affect vernacular newspaper?
Answer:
a) Nationalists in India used print media to publish the evil effects of British rule and spread new ideas.
b) As vernacular newspapers became assertively nationalist the colonial government decided to take strong measures.
c) In 1878 the Vernacular Press Act was passed which provided the government with extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the Vernacular Press.
d) The Government started keeping regular track on vernacular newspapers. If it published any material which was considered to be seditious, the government seized the press and confiscated the printing machines.
e) Despite repressive measures nationalist newspapers grew in numbers in all parts of India. When Bal Gangadhar was imprisoned for publishing news in his Kesari in support of Punjab revolutionaries, it resulted in widespread protest all over India.

Q.5: What was the impact of print technology on the poor people in India?
Answer:
a) In the 19th century publishers brought out cheap books which were affordable to the poor.
b) Public libraries were set up in towns and cities and in prosperous villages.
c) Several social reformers like Jyotiba Phule, B.R. Ambedkar and E.V. Ramaswamy wrote on issues like caste discrimination and exploitation which was read by people all over India.
d) Local protest movements and sects criticised ancient scriptures and welcomed a new and just future through their journals.
e) Workers in factories started publishing their contributions, e.g. – Kashi Baba, a
Kanpur mill owner wrote and published ‘Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal’ in 1939 to show links between class and caste exploitation.
f) In Kanpur, a Mill worker published collection of poems called ‘Sacchi Kavitayein’.
g) Social reformers sponsored public libraries to educate mill workers in Bombay and Bangalore.

Q.6: How did print revolution lead to the development of reading mania in Europe?
Answer:
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 low priced books were called Biliotheque 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.

Q.7: How did oral culture enter print and how was the printed material transmitted orally? Explain
Answer: 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:
1. These were sung at gathering in villages, taverns and in towns.
2. They were recited in public gathering.

Q.8: Explain the impact of print on Indian women.
Answer:
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.

Q.9: By the end of the 19th century a new visual culture was taking shapes. Write any three features of this new visual culture.
Answer:
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.

Q.10: ‘Many Historians have argued that print culture created the conditions within which the French Revolution occurred.’ Explain.
Answer:
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.