NCERT Solutions For Class 10 History Chapter 7 Print Culture And The Modern World Long Questions And Answers
Question 1. How did the print revolution lead to the development of reading mania in Europe?
Answer:
As literacy and schools spread in European countries there was a virtual reading mania.
- A new form of popular literature appeared to target new readers.
- There were ritual calendars along with ballads and folk tales.
- In England, penny chapbooks were carried by petty peddlers known as Chapman and sold for a penny so that even the poor could buy them.
- In France, these low-priced books were called Bibliotheque Bleue as they were bound in cheap blue covers.
- There were romances, histories, and books of various sizes, developed to combine information on current affairs with entertainment.
- Periodical presses were developed to combine information on current affairs with entertainment.
- The idea of scientists and scholars has now become more accessible to the common people.
Question 2. How did oral culture enter print and how was the printed material transmitted orally? Explain.
Read and Learn More Class 10 Social Science Solutions
Answer:
Oral culture entered print in the following ways –
- Printers published popular ballads and folktales.
- Books were profusely illustrated with pictures. Printed material was transmitted orally in the following ways.
- These were sung at gatherings in villages, taverns, and in towns.
- They were recited in public gatherings.
Question 3. Why did the Ulemas oppose English culture? What steps did they take to counter the impact?
Answer:
The Muslim dynasties had collapsed in India by the end of the 19th century. The Ulemas were scared of the impact of colonial culture on Muslims.
They were afraid that the British would change Muslim Personal Law and encourage conversion from Islam to Christianity.
To counter this, they used cheap lithographic presses, to publish Persian and Urdu translations of the holy scriptures.
They printed religious newspapers and tracts. The Deoband Seminary was founded in 1867 to safeguard the interests of the Muslims. They published thousands of fatwas for the Muslims.
These fatwas directed the Muslims to conduct their life according to the strict Muslim laws. In the 19th century, many Muslim sects appeared for the cause of Muslim religion.
Urdu print also helped them to fight against the English influence and to fight these battles in public.
Question 4. How did Hindu religious texts benefit from printing?
Answer:
Printing brought a remarkable change in the religious texts of the Hindus. In 1810, the first printed edition of Tulsidas’ Ramcharitmanas came out from Calcutta.
Cheap lithographic editions flooded the North Indian markets by the mid-nineteenth century. The Naval Kishore Press of Lucknow and Shri Venkateshwara Press in Bombay published numerous religious books in vernacular.
Printed and portable forms of such books helped religious people to read them anywhere at any time. Women benefited the most as religious texts reached a very wide circle of people.
Discussions, debates, and controversies within and among different religious sects also started.
Question 5. Write a short sketch of Johann Gutenberg.
Answer:
Johann Gutenberg was born in the town of Strasburg in Germany. He was the son of a merchant and brought up in a large agricultural estate.
As an adolescent, he learnt how to polish precious stones, and became a skilled goldsmith as he grew up. He also became an expert at making lead moulds which ultimately led to his invention of the printing press.
He used lead molds to cast the letters of the alphabet into metal types. His invention of the printing press brought about a revolution in the spread of books and book reading all over Europe.
The first book he printed was the Bible and it took three years to print its 180 copies. His invention brought about a revolution in print culture as there was a shift from hand printing to mechanical printing.
Question 6. How were ideas and information written before the age of print in India? How did the printing technique begin in India?
Answer:
In the ancient period, India had a very rich and old tradition of handwritten manuscripts in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, and other regional languages. Manuscripts were copied on palm leaves or on handmade paper.
The pages were beautifully illustrated. Jayadeva’s Gita Govindam was written on a palm leaf in accordion format. Some works had beautiful calligraphy like the 14th century poet Hafiz’s work known as Diwan.
These manuscripts were preserved by sewing them together or pressing them between wooden covers. They had to be handled carefully and they were highly expensive and fragile.
Even in schools, students became literate without reading any kinds of texts as scripts were written in different styles and not easy to read. Teachers dictated portions and students wrote them down.
The printing press first came to Goa with Portuguese missionaries in the mid-16th century. They printed several tracts in Konkani. In 1674, 50 books were printed in Konkani.
The first Tamil book was printed in 1579 at Cochin, first Malayalam book appeared in 1713. By 1710, Dutch missionaries printed 32 Tamil Texts. English printing was started by James Augustus Hickey in 1780.
He began to edit the Bengal Gazette, a weekly magazine. So it was a private English enterprise that began English printing in India.
By the close of the 18th century, a number of journals appeared, and Indians too began publishing. Gangadhar Bhattacharya, who was close to Raja Rammohan Roy, brought out Bengal Gazette.
Question 7. “Print did not only stimulate the publications of conflicting opinions among different communities but also connected them in the 19th century in India.” Support the statement with examples.
Answer:
In the 19th century, there were intense debates around religious issues. Different groups had different opinions about changes taking place in colonial society.
Some criticized existing practices and championed the cause of reforms, while others opposed reforms vehemently. Print not only spread new ideas, but along with newspapers, it shaped the nature of debate.
This was a time of controversies between social and religious reformers, and Hindu Orthodoxy over matters like widow immolation (Sati), monotheism, Brahmanical priesthood, and idolatry.
The ideas were printed every day in the spoken language of ordinary people. Rammohan Roy published Sambad Kaumudi from 1821 and the Hindu Orthodoxy commissioned the Samachar Chandrika to oppose his opinions.
In 1822, two Persian newspapers were published Jam-i-Jahannuma and Shamsul Akhbar.
In the same year, a Gujarati newspaper, The Bombay Samachar, was published. In north India, the Ulemas were deeply worried about the collapse of Muslim dynasties, and the colonial rulers changing the Muslim Personal Law.
The Deoband Seminary, founded in 1867, published thousands of fatwas telling Muslim readers how to conduct themselves in their everyday life, and explaining the meanings of Islamic doctrines.
Among Hindus, print helped in the reading of religious texts. The first printed edition of Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, a 16th-century text, came out from Calcutta in 1810.
From the 1880s the Nawal Kishore Press at Lucknow and Shri Venkateshwar Press of Bombay published numerous religious texts in vernaculars.
Not only they could be read easily by faithful people at any place and time, but they could also be read to a large audience of illiterate people.
Religious texts reached a very wide circle of people, encouraging discussions, debates, and controversies within and among different religions.
Question 8. How was printing culture influenced by the spread of cities and urban culture in China?
Answer:
With the spread of urban culture, the uses of print became diversified. Now not only the officials did need print. Print was used in trade to help the merchants to collect trade information.
People started reading a lot in their leisure. The new readership now preferred reading novels, poetry, autobiographies, romantic plays and anthologies of literary masterpieces.
Women became involved not only in reading but also in writing. They started writing poetry, plays, and autobiographies. Rich women read a lot and their work was published also.
Wives of scholar-officials published their work and so did the courtesans who wrote autobiographies.
Question 9. Mention some new interesting practices used in Japan.
Answer:
Urban culture affected Japan also in the late 18th century. It flourished in Edo (later known as Tokyo) and depicted the elegant culture.
It had an interesting collection of paintings depicting the lives of artists, courtesans, and teahouse gatherings.
Women, musical instruments, calculations, tea ceremonies, flower arrangements, proper social behavior (etiquette), cooking, and famous people were the subjects of print material.
Libraries and bookstores were packed with hand-printed materials of various kinds.
Question 10. Describe three shortcomings of manuscripts that were overcome by the printing press.
Answer:
- Copying manuscripts by expert handwriters was very time-consuming and cumbersome. The printing press took much less time to produce many copies of books.
- Copying manuscripts was an expensive affair that only the aristocrats could afford. Printing press reduced the cost of books significantly and made them available to common people.
- Carrying handwritten books was cumbersome and involved the risk of getting spoiled or damaged. Printed books could be easily handled, carried, and circulated.
Question 11. Give three reasons which were responsible for the popularity of the novels in eighteenth-century Europe.
Answer:
The reasons for the popularity of the novels were:
- The use of print technology, circulating libraries, innovations in marketing, and serialization increased affordability and accessibility.
- Novels unlike other literary forms were about ordinary people.
- Allowed pleasure of reading in private.