Print Culture-3 Flashcards
What was the print revolution?
It was not just a development, a new
way of producing books; it transformed the lives of people,
changing their relationship to information and knowledge, and with
institutions and authorities. It influenced popular perceptions and
opened up new ways of looking at things.
how did a new reading public emergy with printing press
With the printing press, a new reading public emerged. 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.
how did printing create a new culture of reading
Access to books created a new culture of reading. Earlier, reading
was restricted to the elites
how did printing open up access to common people
Common people lived in a world of oral
culture. They heard sacred texts read out, ballads recited, and folk
tales narrated. Knowledge was transferred orally. People collectively
heard a story, or saw a performance. As you will see in Chapter 8,
they did not read a book individually and silently. Before the age of
print, books were not only expensive but they could not be produced
in sufficient numbers. Now books could reach out to wider sections
of people. If earlier there was a hearing public, now a reading public
came into being
was the transition from hearing-> reading public easy
But the transition was not so simple. Books could be read only by
the literate, and the rates of literacy in most European countries
were very low till the twentieth century
How, then, could publishers
persuade the common people to welcome the printed book?
To do
this, they had to keep in mind the wider reach of the printed work:
even those who did not read could certainly enjoy listening to books
being read out. 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.
how did oral and print mingle
Oral culture thus entered print and printed material was orally
transmitted. The line that separated the oral and reading cultures
became blurred. And the hearing public and reading public became
intermingled.
brief the significance of print
Print created the possibility of wide circulation of
ideas, and introduced a new world of debate and
discussion. Even those who disagreed with
established authorities could now print and circulate
their ideas. Through the printed message, they could
persuade people to think differently, and move them
to action. This had significance in different spheres
of life.
why did people fear the print
Not everyone welcomed the printed book, and those
who did also had fears about it. Many were
apprehensive of the effects that the easier access to
the printed word and the wider circulation of books,
could have on people’s minds. It was feared that if
there was no control over what was printed and
read then rebellious and irreligious thoughts might
spread. If that happened the authority of ‘valuable’
literature would be destroyed. Expressed by religious
authorities and monarchs, as well as many writers
and artists, this anxiety was the basis of widespread
criticism of the new printed literature that had began
to circulate.
give an example of the implication of print culture in a sphere of life
In 1517, the religious reformer Martin Luther wrote
Ninety Five Theses criticising many of the practices
and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church. A printed
copy of this was posted on a church door in Wittenberg. It challenged
the Church to debate his ideas. Luther’s writings were immediately
reproduced in vast numbers and read widely. This lead to a division
within the Church and to the beginning of the Protestant
Reformation. Luther’s translation of the New Testament sold 5,000
copies within a few weeks and a second edition appeared within
three months. Deeply grateful to print, Luther said, ‘Printing is the
ultimate gift of God and the greatest one.’ Several scholars, in fact,
think that print brought about a new intellectual atmosphere and
helped spread the new ideas that led to the Reformation.
what is print an dissent
explain story of menochio
Print and popular religious literature stimulated many distinctive
individual interpretations of faith even among little-educated working
people. In the sixteenth century, Menocchio, a miller in Italy, began
to read books that were available in his locality. 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 ultimately executed. The Roman Church, troubled by
such effects of popular readings and questionings of faith, imposed
severe controls over publishers and booksellers and began to maintain
an Index of Prohibited Books from 1558.
what is protestant reformation
– A sixteenth-century
movement to reform the Catholic Church
dominated by Rome. Martin Luther was one
of the main Protestant reformers. Several
traditions of anti-Catholic Christianity
developed out of the movement
