Print Culture and The Modern World

Dharav High School, Jaipur
Class X
Chapter 2 -Print Culture and the Modern World
Important Questions
1. Write a short note on Indian manuscripts.

Ans. 1. India had a very rich and old tradition of handwritten manuscripts – in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian,
and other vernacular languages.
2. Manuscripts were copied on palm leaves or on handmade paper.
3. Pages were beautifully illustrated.
4. These manuscripts were bound between wooden covers or sewn together for preservation.
5. Manuscripts were expensive and fragile and had to be handled carefully.
6. It was difficult to read manuscripts as they were written in different styles
Q2. ‘Print Culture created the conditions within which French Revolution occurred.’ Give reasons.
Ans.1. Print popularized the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers
2. Print created a new culture of dialogue and debate
3. By the 1780 there was on outpouring of literature that mocked the royalty and criticized
Q3. ‘Print did not only stimulate the publication of conflicting opinions amongst communities, but
also connected communities and people in different parts of India.’ Elucidate.
Ans.1. It created new platform for expression of ideas It is the cheapest and most simplest way of
communication
2. It brought about the problems of Indian Masses
3. A large number of religious book were being transmitted to Indian Masses
Q4. Give any three reasons favouring shift from hand printing to mechanical printing in China?
Ans. 1. By the 17th century, urban culture bloomed in China and the use of print diversified.
2. It was important for a shift from hand printing to mechanical printing in China to take place.
3. Print was no longer used just by scholar-officials. Merchants used print in their everyday life to collect
trade information.
4. Reading increasingly became a leisure activity. Rich women began to read and many women began
publishing their poetry and plays.
5. In the late 19th century as Western powers established their outposts in China, western printing
techniques and mechanical presses were imported.
6. Shanghai became the hub of the new print culture catering to Western-style schools.
Q5. Highlight any three circumstances that led to the intermingling of the hearing culture and the
reading culture.
Ans: 1. With the printing press, a new reading public emerged. Printing reduced the cost of books. Access
to books created a new culture of reading. Earlier reading was restricted to the elite.
2. 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.
3. Printers began publishing popular ballads and folk tales, illustrated with pictures. These were sung and
recited at gatherings.
4. Oral culture thus entered print and printed material was orally transmitted. The line that separated oral
and reading cultures diminished and the hearing and reading public intermingled.
Q6. Write a short note on Vernacular Press Act.

Ans 1. In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed by the British Government in India to impose
restrictions on vernacular press, which was responsible for spreading nationalist ideas in much of India.
2. The government started to keep a regular track of the vernacular newspapers published in different
provinces and had extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press.
3. When a report was judged as seditious, the newspaper was warned, and if the warning was ignored, the
press was liable to be seized and the printing machinery confiscated.
4. The most discriminating aspect of the law was that though it put serious restrictions on the freedom of
Indian language newspapers, yet it spared the English newspapers from its purview.
Q7. ‘The new technology could not entirely displace the existing art of producing books by hand
during 15th century.’ Support the statement.
Ans:1. The printed books at first closely resembled the written manuscripts in appearance and layout.
2. The metal letters imitated the ornamental handwritten styles.
3. Borders were illuminated by hand with foliage and other patterns and illustrations were painted.
4. In the books printed for the rich, space for decoration was kept blank on the printed page. Each
purchaser could choose the designs and decide on the painting school that would do the illustrations.
The new technology did not entirely displace the existing art of producing books by hand.
Q8. Who was Gutenberg? What was his contribution to the world?
Ans:- 1. Gutenberg was the son of a merchant and grew up on a large agricultural estate. From his
childhood he had seen wine and olive presses. He learnt the art of polishing stones, became a master
goldsmith, and also acquired the expertise to create lead moulds used for making trinkets.
His Contribution to the world was innovation of Printing Press.
2. Drawing on the knowledge of olive press , Gutenberg adapted existing technology to design printing
press
3. 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.
4. By 1448, Gutenberg perfected the system. The first book he printed was the Bible. About 180 copies
were printed and it took three years to produce them.
Q9. Who was Martin Luther? What was his contribution in Protestant Reformation?
Ans: 1. Martin Luther was the religious reformer who wrote Ninety Five Theses.
2. In his work he criticised many of the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church.
3. A printed copy of this work was posted on a church door in Wittenberg. It challenged
the Church to debate his ideas.
4. 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.
Q10. Which factor led to reading mania in the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe?
Ans. 1.In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries literacy rate went up in most parts of Europe.
2. New forms of popular literature appeared in print, targeting new audiences. Book sellers employed
peddlers who roamed around villages, carrying little books for sale.
3. Cheap books were available in the market and the production of books was very high.
4. Newspapers and journals carried information about wars and trade as well as news of developments in
other places.
5. In England penny chapbooks were carried by petty peddlers known as chap men and sold fora penny, So
that even poor could buy them.
6. In France these law priced books were called Bibliotheque Bleue as they were bound in cheap blue
covers.
7.Periodical pressed developed to combine information on current affairs with entertainment.

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Dharav High School, Jaipur

1. Write a short note on Indian manuscripts.

Q6. Write a short note on Vernacular Press Act.

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