Short Answers Questions (SAQs) for Chapter 5 Print Culture and the Modern World Class 10 History
Important Questions1
Where was the earliest kind of print technology developed? Explain that technology.
Answer
• The earliest kind of print technology was developed in China. This was a system of hand printing.
• From 594 A.D. onwards, books in China were printed by rubbing paper against the inked surface.
• As both sides of the thin and porous sheet could not be printed, the traditional Chinese ‘Accordion book’ was folded and stitched at the side.
• Superbly skilled craftsmen could duplicate it with remarkable accuracy, the beauty of calligraphy.
2
What is meant by the print revolution? Explain its significance.
Answer
The printing of books started at a large scale after the invention of new printing technology. This was called the Print Revolution.
Significance:
• With the printing press, a new reading public emerged.
• Printing reduced the cost of books.
• Books flooded the market, reaching out to an ever growing readership.
3
How had the earliest printing technology developed in the world? Explain with examples.
Answer
• The earliest kind of print technology was developed in China, Japan and Korea which was a system of hand printing.
• Buddhist missionaries from China introduced hand-printing technology into Japan.
• It was Marco Polo, a great explorer brought printing knowledge of woodblock from China to Italy.
4
What was an “Accordion Book”? Describe any two features of hand printing in China.
Answer
'Accordion Book' is a traditional Chinese book, folded and stitched at the side.
• Chinese Accordion Books were hand printed. They were printed by rubbing paper against the inked surface of wooden blocks.
• As both sides of the thin, porous sheet would not be printed, the traditional Chinese ‘Accordion Book’ was folded and stitched at the side.
• These Accordion Books could be duplicated by superbly-skilled craftsmen with remarkable accuracy, the beauty of calligraphy.
5
‘With the printing press a new public emerged in Europe’. Justify the statement.
Answer
• Printing reduced the cost of books.
• The time and labour required to produce each book came down, and multiple copies could be produced with greater ease.
• Books flooded the market, reaching out to an ever-growing readership.
6
Explain the reasons favouring shift from hand printing to mechanical printing in China.
Answer
The reasons favouring shift from hand printing to mechanical printing in China are:
• Textbooks of Civil Service Examination were printed in vast numbers under the sponsorship of the imperial state.
• From the sixteenth century, the number of examination candidates went up and that increased the volume of print.
• By the seventeenth century, as urban culture bloomed in China, the uses of print diversified. Print was no longer used just by scholar-officials but also by merchants used print in their everyday life.
7
How did Johann Gutenberg developed the first printing press?
Answer
• From his childhood, Gutenberg had seen wine and olive presses. Subsequently, he learnt the art of polishing stones, became a master goldsmith, and also acquired the expertise to create lead moulds used for making trinkets.
• Drawing on this knowledge, Gutenberg adapted existing technology to design his innovation. The olive press provided the model for the printing press, and moulds were used for casting the metal types for the letters of the alphabet.
• By 1448, Gutenberg perfected the system. The first book printed by him was the Bible.
8
How did Gutenberg personalise the printed books? Explain.
Answer
• Borders were illuminated by hand with foliage and other patterns.
• Books printed for rich had blank space left for decoration.
• Each buyer could choose the design.
• Verses were highlighted with hand and with colours.
9
Highlight any three innovations which have improved the printing technology from 19th century onwards.
Answer
• By the mid-19th century, Richard M. Hoe of New York had perfected the power driven cylindrical press. This was capable of printing 8,000 sheets per hour. This press was particularly useful for printing newspaper.• In the late 19th century, the offset press was developed which would print up to six colours at a time.
• From the turn of the 20th century, electrically operated presses accelerated the printing operations.
• Methods of feeding paper improved, the quality of plates became better, automatic paper reels and photoelectric controls of the colour register were introduced.
• The dust cover or the book jackets were introduced.
10
How did the printers manage to attract the people, largely illiterate, towards printed books?
Answer
• To attract people, the printers started printing popular ballads and folk tales.
• The printed books had been incorporated with lots of illustrations.
• Ballads and folk tales were sung and recited to the people in gatherings in the villages.
11
Explain any three factors responsible for the invention of new printing techniques.
Answer
• The production of handwritten manuscripts could not satisfy the ever-increasing demand for books.
• Copying was an expensive, laborious and time-consuming business.
• Manuscripts were fragile, awkward to handle, and could not be carried around or read easily which limited their circulation.
12
How did print introduce debate and discussion? Explain in three points.
Answer
• Some used print to criticize existing practices and campaigned for reform while others countered the arguments of reformers.
• These debates were carried out in public and in print.
• Printed tracts and newspapers not only spread the new ideas, but they shaped the nature of the debate.
• A wider public could now participate in these public discussions and express their views.
• New ideas emerged through these clashes of opinions.
13
Highlight any three circumstances that led to the intermingling of the hearing culture and the reading culture.
Answer
• The rate of literacy was very low in Europe till the end of the 20th century. In order to attract people towards books, the printers started printing popular ballads and folk tales with lot of illustration.
• Such books were recited at gatherings and it attracted listeners.
• Thus the oral culture was printed and printed material was orally transmitted and the hearing public and reading public became intermingled.
14
Who was Menocchio? Mention any two contributions of him in the field of print culture in the sixteenth century.
Answer
Menocchio was a miller based in Italy in the sixteenth century.
• He reinterpreted the message of the Bible and formulated a view of God and Creation that enraged the Roman Catholic Church.
• When the Roman Church began its inquisition to repress heretical ideas, Menocchio was hauled up twice and was ultimately executed.
• The Roman Church, troubled by such effects of popular readings and questioning of faith, imposed server controls over publishers and booksellers and began to maintain an Index of Prohibited Books from 1558.
15
Why did the Roman Catholic Church begin to keep an Index of prohibited books from the mid 16th century?
Answer
• Printed religious literature stimulated a variety of interpretations of faith, even among the little educated working class in the early 16th century.
• Menocchio, an Italian miller, reinterpreted the Bible in a way that enraged the Roman Catholic Church.
• Such instances worried the Church about people reading the various interpretations of the religion and questioning the Church.
• Hence, it imposed severe controls over publishers and booksellers and began maintaining an index of Prohibited Books.
16
Highlight any three circumstances that led to the intermingling of the hearing culture and the reading culture.
Answer
• The rate of literacy was very low in Europe till the end of the 20th century. In order to attract people towards books, the printers started printing popular ballads and folk tales with lot of illustration.
• Such books were recited at gatherings and it attracted listeners.
• Thus the oral culture was printed and printed material was orally transmitted and the hearing public and reading public became intermingled.
17
In which three way did the printed books at first closely resembled the written manuscripts?
Answer
• The printed books at first closely resembled the written manuscripts in appearance and layout.
• The metal letters imitated the ornamental handwritten styles.
• Borders were illuminated by hand with foliage and other patterns, and illustrations were painted.
18
What led the colonial government to pass the Vernacular Press Act in 1878? How did it affect the vernacular newspapers?
Answer
• The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 was passed because the vernacular newspapers were assertively nationalist. They openly criticized and debated the government policies.
• This Act empowered the government to censor reports and editorials.
• The government kept a regular tract of vernacular newspapers. If a report was judged seditious, the newspaper was warned and if warning was ignored appropriate actions were taken.
19
What led the colonial government to pass the Vernacular Press Act in 1878? How did it affect the vernacular newspapers?
Answer
• The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 was passed because the vernacular newspapers were assertively nationalist. They openly criticized and debated the government policies.
• This Act empowered the government to censor reports and editorials.
• The government kept a regular tract of vernacular newspapers. If a report was judged seditious, the newspaper was warned and if warning was ignored appropriate actions were taken.
20
How did new forms of popular literature appear in print targeting new audience in the 18th century? Explain with examples.
Answer
• There were almanacs along with ballads and folktales. In England, Chapbooks were carried by petty pedlars known as chapman and sold for a penny.
• In France, were the “Biliotheque Bleue”, which were low-priced small books printed on poor quality paper, and bound in cheap blue covers.
• There were the romances printed on four to six pages and the more substantial ‘Histories’ which were stories of the past.
21
Why did James Augustus Hickey claim that the Bengal Gazette was ‘a commercial paper open to all but influenced by none’? Explain.
Answer
• It was a private English weekly magazine in India, independent from colonial influence.
• Hickey not only published a lot of advertisement including the import and sale of slaves, but also published lots of gossip about the Company’s senior officials in India.
• Governor General Warren persecuted Hickey and encouraged government sanctioned newspapers.
22
What is a manuscript? Why were they not used widely?
Answer
Manuscripts were documents or books written by hand. They were not used widely because:
• They could not satisfy the ever increasing demand for books.
• They were expensive as copying was an expensive, laborious and time consuming business.
• Manuscripts were fragile, awkward to handle and could not be carried around or read easily.
• Their circulation was limited.
23
How did the print popularize the ideas of the enlightened thinkers? Explain.
Answer
• In 1517, the religious reformer Martin Luther wrote ‘Ninety Five Theses’ criticising many of the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church.
• Due to writings of Martin Luther, the church got divided and a new protestant reformation had started.
• Several scholars, infact think that print brought about a new intellectual atmosphere and helped spread the new ideas that led to reformation.
24
What led the colonial government to pass the Vernacular Press Act in 1878? How did it affect the vernacular newspapers?
Answer
• The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 was passed because the vernacular newspapers were assertively nationalist. They openly criticized and debated the government policies.
• This Act empowered the government to censor reports and editorials.
• The government kept a regular tract of vernacular newspapers. If a report was judged seditious, the newspaper was warned and if warning was ignored appropriate actions were taken.
25
Why did the attitude of the colonial Government towards the freedom of the press change after the revolt of 1857? What repressive measures were put into place?
Answer
After the revolt of 1857, the attitude to freedom of press changed. Enraged English officials clamped down the native press because of their nationalists activities.
• In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed. It provided the government extensive rights to censor reports.
• The government kept regular track of the Vernacular newspaper, when a report was judged as seditious the newspaper was warned, the press was liable to be seized and machinery could be confiscated.
26
Evaluate the efforts made by the British in India to impose censorship on the press.
Answer
• By the 1820’s, the Calcutta Supreme Court passed certain regulations to control press freedom and the country began encouraging publication of newspapers that would celebrate British Rule.
• In 1835, faced with urgent petitions by editors of English and Vernacular newspapers, Governor General Bentick agreed to revise press laws.
• In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed, modelled on the Irish Press Laws which provided the government with extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the Vernacular Press.
27
What restrictions were imposed by the Vernacular Press Act on the Indian Press? Explain.
Answer
• The Vernacular Press Act provided the government with extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press.
• The government kept regular track of the vernacular newspapers published in different provinces.
• When 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 could be confiscated.
28
Why did the attitude of the colonial Government towards the freedom of the press change after the revolt of 1857? What repressive measures were put into place?
Answer
After the revolt of 1857, the attitude to freedom of press changed. Enraged English officials clamped down the native press because of their nationalists activities.
• In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed. It provided the government extensive rights to censor reports.
• The government kept regular track of the Vernacular newspaper, when a report was judged as seditious the newspaper was warned, the press was liable to be seized and machinery could be confiscated.
29
Examine the role of missionaries in the growth of press in India.
Answer
• The printing press first came to Goa in Western India through Portuguese missionaries in mid 16th century.
• Jesuit priests learnt Konkani and printed several texts and nearly 50 books were printed in Konkani.
• Catholic priests printed the first Tamil book in 1579 at Cochin.
• The first Malayalam book was printed in 1713.
• The Dutch Protestant missionaries had printed 32 Tamil texts.
30
Explain the role of print in the religious reforms in India.
Answer
• From the early 19th century, there were intense debates around religious issues. Different groups confronted the changes happening within colonial society in different ways and offered a variety of new interpretations of the beliefs of different religions.
• Some criticised existing practices and campaigned for reform, while others countered the arguments of reformers. These debates were carried out in public and in print.
• Printed tracts and newspaper not only spread the new ideas, but they shaped the nature of the debate.
• A wider public could now participate in these public discussions and express their views. New ideas emerged through these clashes of opinions.
31
Explain the new visual culture in print which developed in the nineteenth century.
Answer
• With the setting up of an increasing number of printing presses, visual images could be easily reproduced in multiple copies.
• Painters like Raja Ravi Verma produced images for mass circulation.
• Cheap prints and calendars were easily available in the bazaar. By the 1870s, caricatures and cartoons were also being published in journals and newspapers commenting on social and political issues.
32
Describe the attitude of liberal and conservative Indian’s towards women’s reading?
Answer
• Liberal husbands and fathers began educating their women folk at home and sent them to schools.
• Conservative Hindus believed that a literate girl would be widowed and Muslims feared that educated women would be corrupted by reading romantic books.
• Kailashbashini Debi wrote books highlighting the experiences of women-how women were imprisoned at home, kept in ignorance, forced to do hard domestic labour.
33
Explain the role of print in the religious reforms in India.
Answer
• From the early 19th century, there were intense debates around religious issues. Different groups confronted the changes happening within colonial society in different ways and offered a variety of new interpretations of the beliefs of different religions.
• Some criticised existing practices and campaigned for reform, while others countered the arguments of reformers. These debates were carried out in public and in print.
• Printed tracts and newspaper not only spread the new ideas, but they shaped the nature of the debate.
• A wider public could now participate in these public discussions and express their views. New ideas emerged through these clashes of opinions.