print culture and the modern world
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PRINT CULTURE AND
THE MODERN WORLD
:Pooja Singhal
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
THE FIRST PRINTED
BOOKS
The Earliest kind of print technology
developed in China, Japan and Korea
From AD 576 onwards, books in China were
printed by rubbing paper against inked surface
of woodblocks
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
ACCORDION BOOK
The Traditional Chinese ‘accordion book’ was
folded and stitched at the side
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
CALLIGRAPHY
Calligraphy is the art of beautiful and stylised
writing
Superbly skilled craftsmen could duplicate it
with accuracy
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
For a very long time china remained the
major producer of printed material
Further the Civil service examination
expanded the use of print material
Apart from scholars even merchants started
using print material
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
Rich women began to read and publish their
poetry and plays
New reading culture was occupied by new
technology
Shanghai became the hub of the new print
culture
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
PRINT IN JAPAN
Buddhist missionaries from China introduced
hand-printing technology into Japan (AD 768-
770)
The oldest Japanese book, printed in AD 868,
is the Buddhist ‘DIAMOND SUTRA’
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
Pictures were printed on textiles, playing
cards and paper money
In medieval Japan, poets and prose writer
were regularly published
Books were cheap abundant
Printing of visual material led to interesting
publishing practices
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
PRINT COMES TO EUROPE
In 1295, Marco polo, a great explorer returned to Italy
after many years of exploration in China
He brought the knowledge of print technology back
with him from China
Luxury editions were still hand written on very
expensive VELLUM
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
Demand for books increased and Europe
began exporting books to different countries
Book fairs were held
Scribes started working for booksellers
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
LIMITATIONS
Handwritten manuscripts could not satisfy the ever-
increasing demands for books
Copying was expensive, laborious and time-consuming
Manuscripts were fragile, difficult to handle and carry
around
Their circulation remained limited
Thus there was a great need for quicker and cheaper
production
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
RISE OF PRINTING PRESS
Gutenberg was the son of a merchant and grew
up on a large agricultural estate
He became a master goldsmith
He created lead moulds for making trinkets
The adopted this technology to design new
innovation
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
The olive press provided the model for printing press
Moulds were used for casting metal types for the letters
By 1448, he perfected the system
The first book he printed was ‘The Bible’ with 180
copies
It took 3yrs to produce them
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
By the standards of time the production became fast
But this new technology did not entirely displaced the
art of producing books by hand
The shift from hand printing to mechanical printing
led to the ‘Print Revolution’
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
GUTENBERG’S PRINTING
PRESS
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
THE BIBLE
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
PRINT REVOLUTION
(MEANING)
Development of new ways of producing books
Transformed the lives of people
Change in their relationship with institutions and
authorities
Influenced popular perceptions
Opened up new ways of looking at things
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
IMPACT OF PRINT
REVOLUTION
A. • A NEW READING PUBLIC
B.
• RELIGIOUS DEBATES AND THE FEAR OF PRINT
C. • PRINT AND DISSENT
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
A. NEW READING PUBLIC
A new reading public emerged
Printing press reduced the cost, time
and labour
Books flooded the market
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
Common people live in the world of oral
culture
They heard sacred texts read out, ballads
recited and folks tales narrated
Access to books created a new culture of
reading
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
The transmission of new reading culture was
easy as the literacy rate were very low
So printers began printing publishing popular
ballads and folk tales illustrated with pictures
These were sung and recited in villages and
in taverns in towns
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
AS A RESULT….
Oral culture entered print and printed
material was orally transmitted
The hearing public and reading public
became intermingled
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
B. RELIGIOUS DEBATES
AND THE FEAR OF PRINT
Print created the wide circulation of ideas
Introduced a new world of debate and
discussion
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
FEAR OF PRINT…
Many were apprehensive of the effect of wider
circulation of books on the mind of people
Rebellious & irreligious thoughts might spread
The authority of valuable literature would be destroyed
this anxiety to the widespread criticism of print media
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
EXAMPLE…
In 1517, the religious reformer Martin Luther wrote
Ninety five theses criticising many of the practices &
rituals of the Roman Catholic Church
This lead to a division within the church and to the
beginning of the ‘Protestant Reformation’
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
C. PRINT AND DISSENT
Print & religious literature stimulated many distinctive
individual interpretations of faith
Manocchio reinterpreted the message of Bible and
formulated a view of god & creation that enraged the
Roman Catholic Church
Manocchio was executed for his heretical ideas
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI
The Roman Church was troubled by such effects of
popular readings
Thus, they imposed severe controls publishers &
booksellers
The Index of Prohibited Books was introduced from
1558
Pooja Singhal, Ph.D Research Scholar, JMI