RBSE Solutions for Class 10 Social Science History Chapter 5 Print Culture and the Modern World

Rajasthan Board RBSE Solutions for Class 10 Social Science History Chapter 5 Print Culture and the Modern World Textbook Exercise Questions and Answers.

RBSE Class 10 Social Science Solutions History Chapter 5 Print Culture and the Modern World

RBSE Class 10 Social Science Print Culture and the Modern World InText Questions and Answers

Activity:
Page – 108

Question 1.
Imagine that you are Marco Polo. Write a letter from China to describe the world of print which you have seen there.
Answer:
As Marco polo, I shall write following type of letter about the world of print which I have seen here.
From AD 594 onwards, books in China were printed by rubbing paper against the inked surface of w’ood block. As both sides of the thin, porous sheet could not be printed, the traditional Chinese ‘accordion book’ was folded and stiched at the side. Superbly skilled craftsmen could duplicate, with remarkable accuracy, the beauty of calligraphy .

Discuss:
Page – 113

Question 2.
Write briefly why some people feared that the development of print could lead to the growth of dissenting ideas.
Answer:
Print created the possibility of wide circulation of ideas, and introduced a new world of debate and discussion. Print and popular religious literature stimulated many distinctive individual interpretations of faith even among little-educated working people. Even those who disagreed with established authorities could now’ print and circulate their ideas. In this way-, the spread of opposing viwes were encouraged.
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. Many religious authorities and monarchs, as well as many writers and artists expressed that the authority of ‘valuable’ literature would be destroyed.

Discuss:
Page – 116

Question 3.
Why do some historians think that print culture created the basis for the French Revolution ?
Answer:
Some historians think that print culture created the basis for the French Revolution. In this connection, the following arguments have been put forward:
1. Print popularised the ideas of the Elightenment thinkers. Collectively, their writings provided critical commentary on tradition, super stitution and despotism.

2. Print created a new culture of dialogue and debate. All values, norms and institutions were re-evaluated and discussed by public that had become aware of the pow er of reason and recognised the need to question existing ideas and beliefs.

3. By the 1780s, there was came immense literature that mocked the royalty and criticised their morality. Cartoons and caricatures typically suggested that monarchy was engaged only in sensual pleasures while the common people suffered many hardships. This literature aroused the feeling of revolution among the people.

Activity:
Page – 118

Question 4.
Look at the text – book Fig. 13. What impact do such advertisements have on the public mind ? Do you think everyone reacts to printed material in the same way ?
Answer:
1. Such advertisements have a great influence on the minds of people. These advertisements encourage them to buy the advertised products.

2. No, .everyone does not react to the printed material in the same way. If people accept these things, then some people deny these things. People also interpret things in their own way.

RBSE Class 10 Social Science Print Culture and the Modern World Textbook Questions and Answers

Write in brief

Question 1.
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.
Answer:
(a) Why did wood block print only came to Europe after 1295:
The technology of w ood block print was available in China. In 1295. Marco Polo, a great explorer returned to Italy after many years of exploration in China. Marco Polo brought this technology of wood block back w ith him. Hence technology of wood block print only came to Europe after 1295.

(b) Why was Martin Luther in favour of print and spoke out in praise of it:
Martin Luther was a religious leader of Germany . He was a great supporter of print. In 1517, he wrote ‘Ninety Five Thesis’ criticising many of the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church. A printed copy of this was posted on a Church door in witten¬berg. It challenged the Church to debate his ideas. Martin Luther’s writings were immediately reproduced in Vast numbers and read widely. This led to a division within the Church and to the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Deeply grateful to print, Luther said ‘‘Printing is the ultimate gift of God and the greatest one”.

(c) Why did The Roman Catholic Church begin keeping an index of Prohibited books from the mid-sixteenth century?
Print and popular religious literature encouraged many individual interpretations of faith even among little-educated working people. Some people interpreted the message of the Bible and formulated a view of God and creation that enraged the Roman Catholic Church. 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.

(d) Gandhiji’s views on fight for Swaraj:
Mahatma Gandhi’s main objective was to get Swaraj. In 1922, Gandhiji said that the fight for Swaraj is a fight for liberty of speech, liberty of the press and freedom of association. According to him the liberty of speech, liberty of the press and liberty of association are essential elements for Swaraj. The aim of achieving Swaraj will be completed only when these three freedoms would be available to all Indians.

Question 2.
Write short notes to show what you know about :
(a) The Gutenberg Press,
(b) Erasmus’s idea of the printed book,
(c) The Vernacular Press Act.
Answer:
(a) The Gutenberg Press:
Johann Gutenberg invented a model of a printing press in 1448, which was later on known as Gutenberg press. In this, Gutenberg made new inventions in the field of print. In this press along handle was attached to the screw. This handle was used to turn the screw and press down the platen over the printing block that was placed on top of a sheet of damp paper. Gutenberg developed metal types for each of the 26 characters of the Roman alphabet and devised a way of moving them around so as to compose different words of the text.

This came to be known as the moveable type printing machine and it remained the basic print technology over the next 300 years. Books could now be produced much faster than was possible when each print block was prepared by carving a piece of wood by hand. The Gutenberg press could print 250 sheets on one side per hour. The first book he printed was the Bible. About 180 copies were printed and it took three years to produce them. By the standards of the time, this was fast production.

(b) Erasmus’s idea of the printed books:
Erasmus was a Latin scholar and a Catholic reformer. He criticised the excesses of Catholicism but kept his distance from Martin Luther.
Erasmus expressed a deep anxiety about printing. He wrote in 1508 in Adages that the books are like swarms, which could fly to the every comer of the world. It may be possible that one book contributes something worth knowing but the very multitude of them is hurtful to scholarship, because it creates a glut and even in good things satiety is most harmful. Printers fill the world with books, not just trifling things but stupid, ignorant, slanderous, scandalous, raving, irreligious and seditious books. The number of them is such that even the valuable publications lose their value.

(c) The Vernacular Press Act:
After the revolt of 1857, the attitude to freedom of the press changed. Enraged Englishmen demanded to crush the native press. As vernacular newspapers were considered as nationalists, the British government decided to curb the freedom of the Indian press. In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed, modelled on the Irish Press Laws. It provided the government with extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press. From now on the government kept regular track of the vernacular newspapers published in different provinces. 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.

Question 3.
What did the spread of print culture in nineteenth century India mean to :
(a) Women,
(b) The poor,
(c) Reformers.
Answer:
(a) Print culture and women:
1. Lives and feelings of women began to be written in particularly clear and intense ways. Women’s reading, therefore increased enormously in middle – class homes. Many journals began carrying writings by women and explained why women should be educated.

2. From the 1860s. a few Bengali women like Kailash Bashim Debi wrote books highlighting the experiences of women about how women were imprisoned at homes, kept in ignorance, forced to do hard domestic labour and treated unjustly by the very people they served. In the 1880s. in present day Maharashtra, Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Rama Bai wrote with passionate anger about the miserable lives of upper-caste Hindu women, especially widows.

3. In the early twentieth century, journals written for and sometime edited by women, became very popular. They discussed issues like women’s education, widowhood, widow remarriage and the national movement.

(b) Print culture and the poor people:
The poor people could not buy the books because they were very costly. But due to the spread of print culture, the books were being published on large scale. In the nineteenth century, prices of the books were reduced in the cities and sold at crossroads. Consequently the poor people could afford to buy these books easily. In the early twentieth century, public libraries w ere set up in cities and towns where poor people could also read the books. By the 1930s. Bangalore cotton mill workers set up libraries to educate themselves, following the example of Bombay workers.

(c) Print culture and Reformers:
The social reformers tried to remove the social evils through the printed books. They strongly opposed the social evils such as caste system. Widow’ immolation, child marriage, w orship of idols and Brahmanical priesthood. They supported education, social equality and religious tolerance. The social refprmers through their books, newspapers laid the stress on the spread of education among the poor workers. They tried to restrict excessive drinking among them, to bring literacy and sometimes to propagate the message of nationalism.

Discuss

Question 1.
Why did some people in eighteenth century Europe think that print culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism ?
Answer:
Bringing of Enlightenment and end of Despotism through Print Culture Many people in eighteenth century Europe thought that print culture could bring enlightenment and end despotism.

In this connection, the following arguments may be given :
1. In the mid-eighteenth century, there was a common conviction that books were a means of spreading progress and enlightenment. Many believed that books could change the world, illetrate society from despotism and tyranny and herald a time when reason and intellect would rule. Louise-Sebastien Mercier, a novelist in the eighteenth century France, declared, “The printing press is the most powerful engine of progress and public opinion is the force that will sweep despotism away”. Convinced of the hower of print in bringing enlightenment and destroying the basis of despotism, Mercier proclaimed : Tremble, therefore, tyrants of the w orld ! Tremble before the virtual writer !

2. Print popularised the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers. Collectively, their writings provided a critical commentary on tradition, superstition and despotism. They attacked the sacred authority of the church and the despotic power of the state. The writing of Voltaire and Rousseau were read widely and their views had a tremendous effect on their minds.

3. Printing reduced the cost of the books. Book, flooded the markets, reaching out to an ever growing readership. Now books could reach out to wider sections of people. Through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, literacy rates went up in most of Europe. The periodical press developed from the early eighteenth century. Combining information about current affairs with entertainment. Similarly, the ideas of scientists and philosophers now became more accessible to the common people. The spread of print culture played a great role in the enlightenment and the people came to know about their society, religion, culture and politics. Their superstitions and social evils came to an end and they were encouraged to build a progressive society.

Question 2.
Why did some people fear the effect of easily available printed books ? Choose one example from Europe and one from India.
Answer:
Not everyone welcomed the printed books and those who did, also had fears about it. Many were of the opinion that the easier access to the printed word and the wider circulation of books, could have negative effects on people’s mind. It was feared that if there was no control over what w as printed and read, then rebellious and irreligious thoughts might spread. It was also feared that the authority of valuable literature would be destroyed.

• Example from Europe:
  The Roman Catholic Church troubled by the effects of popular readings and questioning of faith, imposed severe control over publishers and book sellers and began to maintain as index of prohibited books from 1558.
• Example from India:
  In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed. It imposed strict restrictions on the reports and editorials in the vernacular press.

Question 3.
What were the effects of the spread of print culture for poor people in nineteenth century India ?
Answer:
Follow ing were the effects of print culture on the poor people in the nineteenth century:
(1) Due to the spread of print culture in the nineteenth century7, the books in the cities became very7 cheap and the poor people began to buy them.
(2) As a result of the print culture, many public libraries were set up in the cities and towns.

(3) From the late nineteenth century, issues of caste discrimination began to be w ritten about in many printed trades and essays. Jyotiba Phule wrote about the injustices of the caste system in his ‘Gulam giri\

(4) The poor people had an opportunity to read the newspapers and magazines and get the national, international and local new s through printed materials.

(5) In some cities, the mill workers set up libraries to educate themselves. These were sponsored by social reformers who tried to restrict excessive drinking among them, to bring literacy and sometimes to propagate the message of nationalism.

Question 4.
Explain how print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India.
Answer:
1. Indian nationalist newspapers played an important role in the development of nationalism. These newspapers criticised the repressive policy of the British government. They reported on colonial misrule and encouraged nationalist activities. When Punjab revolutionaries were deported in 1907, Balgangadhar Tilak criticised the repressive policy of the British government in his ‘Kesari’. This led to his imprisionment in 1908, provoking in turn widespread protests all over India. Thus the newspapers spread the nationalist feelings among the Indians.

2. Many books printed in Indian languages also contributed to the development of nationalism. Vande Matram, Anand Math, and many other books created the feelings of nationalism in Indian people.

3. The print culture spread education among the Indians who became aware of their duties and rights about their country.

4. New7 forms of print such as novels, dramas, essays spread the feelings of nationalism among the Indians. Caricatures and cartoons were criticising colonial rule.