Print Culture And The Modern World

(1or 2 Marks)

Q.1. When and by whom was hand printing technology introduced in Japan?

Ans. Buddhist missionaries from China introduced hand printing technology into Japan
around AD 768-770.

Q.2Why could not manuscripts satisfy the increasing demand of books in Europe during
fourteenth century?

Ans. Copying was an expensive, laborious and time- consuming business. Manuscripts
were fragile, awkward to handle, and could not be carried around or read easily.

Q.3. How did China remain a major producer of printed materials for a long time?

Or “The imperial state in China, was the major producer of printed material.” Support
this statement with examples.

Ans: (i)Textbooks for the civil service examination were printed in vast numbers
under the sponsorship of the imperial state.

(ii) Merchants used print in their everyday life as they collected trade information.

(iii) The new readership preferred fictional narratives, poetry, romantic plays.

(iv) Rich women began to read and many women began publishing their poetry and plays.

Q.4. How did Gutenberg personalise the printed books suiting to the tastes and
requirement of others?

Ans. (i) Borders were illuminated by hand with foliage and other patterns.

(ii) Illustrations were painted in the painting school of the buyer’s choice.

(iii) In the books printed for the rich blank spaces were left for decoration.

(iv) Each buyer could choose the design, verses were highlighted by hand with colours.

Q.5. Explain the main features of the first printed Bible.

Or Describe any three main features of the first printed Bible.

Ans. (i) About 180 copies were printed and it took three years to produce them.
(ii) The text was printed in the new Gutenberg press with metal type, but the borders were
carefully designed, painted and illuminated by hand by artists.

(iii) Every page of each copy was different.

(iv) Different colours were used within the letters in various places.

3 or 4 Marks

Q.1. State any three points of importance of penny chapbooks.

Or

Describe some of the new printed books which were sold by the pedlars in villages in
the eighteenth century Europe.

Ans. (i) Pocket size books that were sold by travelling pedlars called chapmen.

(ii) These became popular from the time of the sixteenth century print revolution.

(iii) It included many kinds of printed material such as pamphlets, political and religious
tracts, nursery rhymes, poetry, folk tales, children’s literature and almanacs.

Q.2. State the features of handwritten manuscripts before the age of print in India.

Ans. (i) Handwritten manuscripts were copied on palm leaves or on handmade papers.

(ii) Pages were beautifully illustrated.

(iii) They were pressed between wooden covers or sewn together to ensure preservation.

(iv) Manuscripts were available in vernacular languages.

(v) Manuscripts were highly expensive and fragile.

(vi) They could not be read easily as script was written in different styles.

Q.3. Mention the shortcomings of manuscripts.

Or

Explain any three factors responsible for the invention of new printing techniques.

Ans. (i) The production of handwritten manuscripts could not meet the ever-increasing
demand for books.

(ii) Copying was an expensive, laborious and time-consuming business.

(iii) The manuscripts were fragile, awkward to handle and could not be carried around or
read easily.

5 or 6 Marks :

Q.1. Mention some of the important characteristics of print culture of Japan.

Or

Describe the progress of print in Japan.

Ans. (i) Introduced by the Buddhist missionaries: The Buddhist missionaries from China
introduced the handprinting technology into Japan around AD 768-770.

(ii) Old book The oldest Japanese book, printed in AD 868, is the Buddhist Diamond Sutra,
containing six sheets of text and woodcut illustrations.

(iii) Material: Playing cards, paper money and textile products were used for printing
pictures.

(iv) Cheap books: In the medieval Japan, the works of poets and prose writers were
regularly published, and books were cheap and abundant.

(v) Print in Edo (Tokyo): In the late 18 th century, in the flourishing urban circles at Edo (later
to be known as Tokyo), illustrated collections of paintings depicting an elegant urban
culture, involving artists, courtesans and teahouse gatherings.

Q.2. Trace the history of print in Europе.

Or

How did print culture develop in Europe ?

Or

How did print culture to Europe from China?

Ans. (i) Paper from China: Paper reached Europe from China through the Silk route in the
11th century. With this, the production of manuscripts written by scribes became a regular
feature.

(ii) Role of travellers and explorers : Marco Polo, a great explorer, brought back with him the
technology of woodblock printing from China. Now, Italians started publishing books with
woodblocks. The technology became popular in other parts of Europe as well.

(iii) Woodblock printing: By the early fifteenth century, woodblocks started being widely
used in Europe to print textiles, playing cards and religious pictures with simple, brief texts.
(iv) Johann Gutenberg and the printing press: A major revolution in the print technology was
brought by Johann Gutenberg. He developed the first known printing press in the 1430’s.
The first book he printed was the Bible.

(v) Spread of printing presses: In the next hundred years, in between 1450 and 1550,
printing presses were set up in most countries of Europe.

Q.3. “Oral culture and print culture were complimentary to each other.” Justify the
statement with suitable arguments.

Ans. (i) Earlier, reading was restricted to the elites. Common people lived in a world of oral
culture.

(ii) With the printing press, books could reach out to wider sections of society. If earlier,
there was a hearing public, now a reading public came into being.

(iii) Publishers had to keep in mind the wider reach of the printed books. Even those who
did not read, could enjoy listening to the books being read out.

(iv) So, printers began publishing popular ballads and folk tales and such books would be
profusely illustrated with pictures. These were then sung and recited at gatherings in
villages and in taverns in towns.

Q.4. ‘Print not only stimulate the publication of conflicting opinions amongst
communities, but it also connected communities and people in different parts of
India.’

Ans. (i) Debate on religious, social and economic issues: From the early nineteenth
century, there were serious debates on religious, social and economic issues. Different
people had different opinions regarding the colonial society. Reformers offered a variety of
new interpretations of the beliefs of different religions.

(ii) Impact on debates: These debates were carried out openly in public and in print. Printed
tracts and newspapers not only spread the new ideas, but they also shaped the nature of
the debates.

(iii) New ideas and clashes: A wider range of people could now participate in these public
discussions and express their views. New ideas emerged through these clashes of
opinions.

(iv) Pan-Indian identities: Newspapers conveyed news from one place to another, creating
pan-Indian identities. Newspapers reported on colonial misrule and encouraged
nationalist activities.
(v) Print and depressed classes: From the 19th century, issue of caste discrimination began
to be written. Jyotiba Phule, Dr B.R. Ambedkar, E.V. Ramaswamy wrote extensively on the
depressed classes and provided the depressed classes a common platform.

Q.5. “There was a virtual reading mania in European countries in the 18 th century”.
Explain the factors responsible for this virtual reading mania.

Ans. (i) Johann Gutenberg’s printing press: The revolution in printing was brought by Johann
Gutenberg’s printing press. With the invention of printing press, the cost of producing a
book came down. So now even the common people could afford the books.

(ii) Increase in literacy rate: The seven- teenth and the eighteenth centuries saw the rapid
rise of literacy rate in most parts of Europe. Churches of different denominations set up
schools in villages. By the end of the eighteenth century, in some parts of Europe, the
literacy rate was as high as 60 to 80 per cent.

(iii) New forms of literature: New forms of popular literature were printed, which targeted
new audiences. There were almanacs or ritual calendars, along with ballads and folk tales.

(iv) Periodicals: The next phase was the development of periodicals. The periodicals
combined information about current affairs with entertainment. Newspapers and journals
carried information about wars and trade, as well as news of developments in other places.

(v) Role of booksellers: Booksellers employed pedlars who roamed around villages,
carrying low price books for sale.

Q.6. How was the print used to spread the religious texts by various communities ?
Explain by giving examples.

Or

What was the main fear of the ‘Ulamas’? State any two steps taken by the ‘Ulamas’ to
defend their religion.

(A) Print and the Muslims:

(i) Ulamas and the print: Ulamas used cheap lithographic presses which
published Persian and Urdu translations of the holy scriptures, and
printed religious newspapers and tracts to spread Islam’s ideas and
philosophy.
(ii) Deoband Schools: The Deoband Seminary which was founded in 1867,
published many fatwas making Muslim readers aware of the code of
conduct to be followed in their everyday lives, and explained the
meanings of Islamic doctrines.
 (iii) Various Muslim Sects: All through the nineteenth century, a number of
Muslim sects and seminaries appeared, each with a different
interpretation of faith. Each was keen on enlarging its followers and
countering the influence of its opponents. The Urdu print helped them
conduct these battles in public.
(B) Print and the Hindus :

Among Hindus, too, print encouraged the readings of religious texts, especially in the
vernacular languages.

(i) The first printed edition of the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas came out
from Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1810.
(ii) In the mid-nineteenth century, cheap lithographic editions flooded the
North Indian markets.
(iii) From the 1880s, the Naval Kishore Press at Lucknow and the Shri
Venkateshwar Press in Bombay published many religious texts in
vernacular languages.
(iv) The printed text was cheap, and portable. These could be easily carried
by the people at any place and time. They could also be read out to large
groups of illiterate men and women.
(v) Religious texts and books started reaching a very wide circle of people,
encouraging debates and controversies within and among different
religions.