Mass literacy increased many fold in the nineteenth century, in Europe. Women children and workers started reading books. Discuss.
Primary education was compulsory in the late nineteenth century. Children became an important category of readers. The printing industry now had its hands full by printing school books. A Children's press was set up in France in 1857 which catered solely to books for children. This press published new stories as well as old fairy tales and folk tales.
The Grimm Brothers in Germany compiled traditional folk tales gathered from peasants and the book was published in a collection in 1812. Rural folk tales now had a new form.
Women became important as readers as well as writers. Penny magazines were published exclusively for women. They contained articles on proper behaviour and housekeeping. Novels became popular as women started reading them.
Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and George Eliot were well known authors. Their writings became important in defining a new type of woman, who had will –power, strength of personality, determination and the power to think.
Lending libraries became popular in the seventeenth century as the literacy rate increased and many took to reading. Books became instruments for educating white-collar workers, artisans and lower-middle-class people.
Books themselves in a way increased literacy. Working class people wrote for themselves and used books for self education.
After the working day was gradually shortened from the mid-nineteenth century, workers had time for self-improvement and self-expression. They wrote political tracts and autobiographies in large numbers.
Name an Act which was passed by the British government to keep a regular track of the vernacular newspapers.
Give reasons for the following:
a) Woodblock print only came to Europe after 1295.
b) Martin Luther was in favour of print and spoke out in praise of it.
c) The Roman Catholic Church began keeping an Index of Prohibited books from the mid-sixteenth century.
d) Gandhi said the fight for Swaraj is a fight for liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and freedom of association.
’Liberty of speech … liberty of the press … freedom of association. The government of India is now seeking to crush the three powerful vehicles of expressing and cultivating public opinion, the fight for swaraj, for Khilafat … means a fight for this threatened freedom before all else….’
Who said these words ?
Who said "Printing is the ultimate gift of God and the greatest one ? ] [CBSE 2010. 11, 12]
Not everyone welcomed the printed books, and those who did also had fears about it.' Explain by giving examples.
By the 17th century, as urban culture Ans. bloomed in China, the uses of print diversified.’ Explain by giving examples. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
How did a new reading culture bloom in China ? Explain.
The shift from handprinting to mechanical printing led to the print revolution.’ Explain.
What did the spread of print culture in the nineteenth century India mean to :
Reformers
Study the given paragraph and answer the following questions that follow :
Liberty of speech…. liberty of the press freedom of association. The government of India is now seeking to crush the three powerful vehicles of expressing and cultivating public opinion. The fight for Swaraj, for Khilafat …. means a fight for this threatened freedom before all else ….'
(i) Who said these words ?
(ii) Name the freedoms he is talking about.
What did the spread of print culture in nineteenth century India mean to:
a) Women
b) The poor
c) Reformers.
How did China remain a major producer of printed materials for a long time ? [CBSE 2013]
Or
"The imperial state in China, was the major producer of printed material.” Support this statement with examples. [CBSE 2013. 2012. 2014]
State any three points of importance of penny chapbooks. [CBSE Sept. 2010.2011]
Or
Describe some of the new printed books which were sold by the pedlars in villages in the eighteenth century Europe. [CBSE-2012, 2014]
Why did people in the eighteenth century Europe think that print culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism? [CBSE 2011]
Name any four languages in which Indian manuscript was prepared before the age of print.
What were the effects of the spread of print culture for poor people in nineteenth century India?
Explain the factors which were responsible for creating a virtual reading mania in Europe. [CBSE 2014]
Or
How did a new reading public emerged with the printing press ? Explain. [CBSE 2010 (D)]
Or
Explain any three reasons for an increase in reading mania in Europe in the 18th Century. [CBSE Sept. 2011]
The printing press is the most powerful engine of progress and public opinion is the force that will sweep despotism away". Who said these words ?
Write about the different innovations in the printing technology during the 19th century ? [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Why did some people in eighteenth century Europe think that print culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism?
Explain any three features of handwritten manuscripts before the age of print in India. [CBSE Sept. 2010. 2011. 2012. 2013]