NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social Science History Chapter 7 Print Culture and Modern World

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social Science History Chapter 7 Print Culture and Modern World

Q.1. Give reasons for the following :
(a) Woodblock print only came to Europe after 1295. [CBSE 2013]
(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 the liberty of speech, liberty of the press and freedom of association.
Ans.
(a)(i) Paper reached Europe through the Silk Route in the 11th century.
(ii) In 1295, Marco Polo, a great explorer, returned to Italy after many years of exploration in China. He brought with him the knowledge of woodblock printing.
(iii) Italy began producing with woodblocks, and soon the technology spread to other parts of Europe.

(b) Because it was the printing press which gave him a chance to criticise many of the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church.

(c) Print and popular literature encouraged many distinctive interpretations of religious faiths and ideas. In the 16th century, Manocchio, a miller in Italy began to read books available readily in his locality. He gave a new interpretation of the Bible, and formulated a view of God, and creation that enraged the Roman Catholic Church.
As a result, Manocchio was hauled up twice, and ultimately executed when the Roman Church began its inquisition, and to repress the therapeutical ideas. After this several control measures were imposed on publishers and booksellers. In 1558, the Roman Church decided to maintain an Index of prohibited books.

(d) Mahatma Gandhi uttered these words in 1922 during the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-1922). Because according to him without the liberty of speech, the liberty of the press and freedom of association, no nation can even survive. If the country was to get free from foreign domination, then these liberties were quite important. If there is no liberty of speech, liberty of press and freedom of association, then there is no nationalism. Nationalism requires these three prerequisites for its survival. Mahatma Gandhi fully knew the fact. That is why, he said so, particularly about these three freedoms. How could one ever think of nationalism in the absence of these three essential conditions ?

Q.2. Write short notes to show that you know about:

(a) The Gutenberg Press.

(b) The Erasmus’s idea of the printed book.

(c) The Vernacular Press Act. [CBSE Sept. 2011, 2012]

Ans.
 (a)Johann Gutenberg was a German goldsmith and inventor, credited with the inventing of the movable type printing in Europe.Gutenberg was the son of a merchant, and his childhood was spent on a large agricultural estate. From his childhood, he had seen wine and olive presses. By and by, he learnt the art of polishing stones, became a master goldsmith, and also acquired the expertise to create lead moulds used for making trinkets. (Trinket-A small item of jewellery that is cheap or of low quality). Using this knowledge, Gutenberg adapted the existing technology to design his innovation. The olive press became the base model for the printing press and moulds were used for casting the metal types for the letters of the alphabet. By 1448, Gutenberg perfected the system. In 1455, Gutenberg published his 42-lines Bible, commonly known as the Gutenberg Bible. About 180 copies were printed most on paper and some on vellum.

(b) Erasmus’s idea of the printed book : Erasmus, a Latin scholar and a Catholic reformer, who criticised the excesses of Catholicism, but kept his distance from, Luther, expressed a deep anxiety about printing. He wrote in Adages (1508) :

‘To what corner of the world do they not fly, these swarms of new books ? It may be that one here and there 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 (such as I write, perhaps), but stupid, ignorant, slanderous, scandalous, raving, irreligious and seditious books, and the number of them is such that even the valuable publications lose their value.’

(c) The Vernacular Press Act : The revolt of 1857 forced the government to curb the freedom of the press. After the revolt, enraged Englishmen demanded a clamp down on the ‘native’ press. As vernacular newspapers became assertively nationalist, the colonial government began debating measures of strict control.

In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed, on the model of Irish Press Laws. It provided the government with extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press. The government started keeping regular track of the vernacular newspapers published in different provinces. When a report was judged as seditious, the newspapers were given a warning and if the warning was ignored, the press was liable to be seized, and the printing machinery could be confiscated.

Q.3. What did the spread of print culture in the nineteenth century India mean to :
(a) Women
(b) The poor
(c) Reformers
Ans.
(a) Children :
(i) As primary education became compulsory from the late nineteenth century, children became an important category of readers.
(ii) Production of school textbooks became critical for the publishing industry.
(iii) A children’s press, devoted to literature for children alone, was set up in France in 1857. This press published new works as well as old fairy tales, and folk tales.
(iv) The Grimm Brothers in Germany spent years compiling traditional folk tales gathered from peasants.
(v) Anything that was considered unsuitable for children or would appear vulgar to the elites, was not included in the published version. Rural folk tales thus acquired a new form. In this way, print recorded old tales, but also changed them.
(b) Women :
(i) Women as readers : Lives and feelings of women began to be written in intense ways. So women became important as readers. Penny magazines were especially meant for women, as were manuals teaching proper behaviour and housekeeping.
(ii) Women as writers : Many women novelists like Jane Austin, Bronte Sisters, George Eliot wrote about women. Novels and other journals began exploring the world of women – their emotions, identities, their experiences and problems. The writings of woman became important in defining a new type of woman – a person with will, strength of personality, determination and the power to think.
(iii) Novels and books on women : As the readership of women was increasing publishers started producing novels and journals for women. Many journals began carrying writings by women, and explained why women should be educated.
(c) Workers :
(i) Lending Libraries : Lending libraries had been in existence from the seventeenth century onwards. In the nineteenth century, lending libraries in England became instruments for educating the white-collar workers, artisans and lower-middle-class people.
(ii) Autobiographies : Sometimes, self- educated working class people wrote for themselves. After the working day was gradually shortened from the mid nineteenth century, workers had some time for self-improvement and self expression. They wrote political tracts and autobiographies in large numbers.
(iii) Novels on the lives of the workers : In the 19th century, Europe entered the industrial age. Factories came up, profits increased and the economy grew. But at the same time, workers faced problems of unemployment, low wages, poor working conditions. Many novelists such as Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy wrote about the adverse impact of industrialisation on the lives of workers.
(b)(i) Public libraries : The print reached to the poor in the 19th century. Publishers started producing small and cheap books. These books were sold at crossroads. Public libraries were set up by the Christian missionaries and the rich people.
(ii) Highlighting the issue of class discrimination : From the late 19th century, many writers started writing about the issue of class distinction.
(i) Jyotiba Phule was a social reformer. He wrote about the poor condition of ‘low caste’. In his book Gulamgiri (1871), he wrote about the injustices of the caste system.
(ii) In the 20th century, B.R. Ambedkar also wrote powerfully against the caste system. He also wrote against untouchability.
(iii) E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker, also known as Periyar, too wrote about the caste system prevailing in Madras (Chennai). The writings of these writers were read by people all over India. Local protest movements and sects also created a lot of popular journals and tracts criticising ancient scriptures with a view to creating new and just future.
(iv) Poor workers and the print : Workers in factories were too overworked, and thus, lacked the education to write about their expectations and experiences. But Keshibaba, a Kanpur mill worker wrote and published Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal in 1938 to depict the links between caste and class exploitation. The poems of another Kanpur mill worker, who wrote under the name of Sudarshan Chakra between 1935 and 1955, were brought together, and published in a collection called Sacchi Kavitayain. By the 1930s, Bangaluru cotton mill workers set up libraries to educate themselves. By doing so, they were following the example of Bombay (Mumbai) workers. These libraries were sponsored by social reformers who tried to restrict excessive drinking among the poor, to bring literacy and, sometimes, to propagate the message of nationalism.

(c) (i) Reformers used newspapers, journals and books to highlight the social evils prevailing in the society. Raja Ram Mohan Roy published the Sambad Kaumudi to highlight the plight of widows.
(ii) From the 1860s, many Bengali women writers like Kailashbashini Debi wrote books highlighting the experiences of women about how women were imprisoned at home, kept in ignorance, forced to do hard domestic labour and treated unjustly by the menfolk, they served.
In the 1880s, in the present day Maharashtra, Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai wrote with passionate anger about the miserable lives of the upper-caste Hindu women, especially the widows. The poor status of women was also expressed by the Tamil writers.
(iii) Jyotiba Phule was a social reformer. He wrote about the poor condition of the ‘low caste’. In his book Gulamgiri (1871), he wrote about the injustices of the caste system.
In the 20th century, B.R. Ambedkar also wrote powerfully against the caste system. He also wrote against untouchability.
E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker, also known as Periyar, too wrote about the caste system prevailing in Madras (Chennai).

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social History Chapter 7 Print Culture and the Modern World

Q.4. Write about the different innovations in the printing technology during the 19th century ? [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Ans. (i) By the mid-nineteenth century, Richard M. Hoe of New York had perfected the power-driven cylindrical press. This was capable of printing 8,000 sheets per hour. This press was particularly useful for printing newspapers.
(ii) In the late nineteenth century, the offset press was developed which could print up to six colours at a time.
(iii) From the turn of the twentieth century, electrically operated presses accelerated printing operations.

Q.5. Why did some people in the eighteenth century Europe think that print culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism ? [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
Or
Assess the impact of print revolution on the European society. [CBSE 2013]
Ans. (i) Spreading of new ideas : After the coming of the print culture, the ideas of scientists and philosophers now became more accessible to the common people. Ancient and medieval scientific texts were compiled and published.
(ii) Scientific discoveries : Maps and more accurate scientific diagrams were widely printed. When scientists like Issac Newton began to publish their discoveries, they could influence a much wider circle of scientifically-minded readers.
(iii) Writings of scholars : The writings of thinkers such as Thomas Paine, Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau were also widely printed, and could gain popularity. Thus, their ideas about science, reasoning and rationality found their way into popular literature.
(iv) Books as medium of progress: By the mid-18th century, books became a medium of spreading progress and enlightenment which could change the society and the world. It was also believed that the books could literate society from despotism and tyranny.
(v) Ideas of enlightened thinkers : The print popularised the ideas of the enlightened thinkers like that of Martin Luther who attacked the authority of the Church and the despotic power of the state, e.g., Voltaire and Rousseau.
(vi) A new culture of dialogue and debate : The print created a new culture of dialogue and debate and the public, became aware of reasoning and recognised the need to question the existing ideas and beliefs.

Q.6. Why did some people fear the effect of the easily available printed books ? Choose one example from Europe and one from India. [CBSE Sept. 2011]
Or
Explain the role played by print in bringing about a division in the Roman Catholic Church. [CBSE Sept. 2011]
Or
Explain the role played by print in the spreading of Protestant Reformation. [CBSE 2012, 2013]
Ans. Not everyone welcomed the printed books and those, who did, also had fear about them. Many were of the opinion that printed words and the wider circulation of books, would have a negative impact on people’s minds. They feared that if there was no control over what was printed and read, then rebellious and irreligious thoughts might gain importance. There was also fear in the minds of scholars that the authority of ‘valuable’ literature would be destroyed. The new print was criticised by religious authorities, monarchs, as well as by writers and artists.

Let us consider the implication of this in one sphere of life in the early modern Europe, i.e., religion.
Martin Luther was a German monk, priest, professor and a Church reformer. In 1517, he wrote Ninety Five Theses and openly criticised many of the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church. A printed copy of this was pasted on a Church door in Wittenberg. It challenged the Church to debate his ideas. Luther’s writings were immediately copied in vast numbers and read widely. This led to a division within the Church, and led to the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
Manx; conservative FUndus believed that a literate girl would be widowed and Muslims believed that educated women could get corrupted by reading Urdu romances. There were many instances of women defying this prohibition.

Q.7. What were the effects of the spread of print culture for the poor people in the nineteenth century India ?
Ans.(i) Public libraries : The print reached to the poor in the 19th century. Publishers started producing small and cheap books. These books were sold at crossroads. Public libraries were set up by the Christian missionaries and the rich people.
(ii) Highlighting the issue of class discrimination : From the late 19th century, many writers started writing about the issue of class distinction.
(i) Jyotiba Phule was a social reformer. He wrote about the poor condition of ‘low caste’. In his book Gulamgiri (1871), he wrote about the injustices of the caste system.
(ii) In the 20th century, B.R. Ambedkar also wrote powerfully against the caste system. He also wrote against untouchability.
(iii) E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker, also known as Periyar, too wrote about the caste system prevailing in Madras (Chennai). The writings of these writers were read by people all over India. Local protest movements and sects also created a lot of popular journals and tracts criticising ancient scriptures with a view to creating new and just future.
(iv) Poor workers and the print : Workers in factories were too overworked, and thus, lacked the education to write about their expectations and experiences. But Keshibaba, a Kanpur mill worker wrote and published Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal in 1938 to depict the links between caste and class exploitation. The poems of another Kanpur mill worker, who wrote under the name of Sudarshan Chakra between 1935 and 1955, were brought together, and published in a collection called Sacchi Kavitayain. By the 1930s, Bangaluru cotton mill workers set up libraries to educate themselves. By doing so, they were following the example of Bombay (Mumbai) workers. These libraries were sponsored by social reformers who tried to restrict excessive drinking among the poor, to bring literacy and, sometimes, to propagate the message of nationalism.

Q.8. Explain how the print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India. [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
Ans. (i) New ideas and debates : There were many who criticised the existing practices and campaigned for reforms, while others countered the arguments of the reformers. These debates were carried out openly in public and in print. Printed tracts and newspapers not only spread the new ideas, but they also shaped the nature of the debate. All this assisted the growth of nationalism.
(ii) Connecting various communities : Print did not only stimulate the publication of conflicting opinions amongst communities, but it also connected communities and people living in different parts of India. Newspapers conveyed news from one place to another, creating pan-Indian identities.

(iii) Print and newspaper : Despite repressive measures, nationalist newspapers grew in numbers in all parts of India. They reported on colonial misrule and encouraged nationalist activities. When Punjab revolutionaries were deported in 1907, Balgangadhar Tilak wrote with great sympathy about them in Kesari.
(iv) Various novels on national history: Many novels written by Indian novelists like Bankim’s Anandamath created a sense of pan-Indian belonging. Munshi Premchand’s novel, Godan highlighted how Indian peasants were exploited by the colonial bureaucrats.
(v) Various images of Bharatmata : Printers like Raja Ravi Verma and Rabindranath Tagore produced images of Bharatmata which produced a sense of nationalism among Indians. The devotion to mother figure came to be seen as an evidence of one’s nationalism.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which one of the following is the oldest Japanese book? [CBSE (CCE) 2011]
(a) Sutta Pitaka
(b) Diamond Sutra
(c) Maha Vamsa
(d) Dipa Vamsa

2. The first printing press was developed by [CBSE (CCE) 2011]
(a) Marco Polo
(b) Kitagawa Utamaro
(c) Johann Gutenberg
(d) Erasmus

3. Who wrote about the injustices of the caste system in ‘Gulamgiri’? [CBSE (CCE) 2011]
(a) Raja Rammohan Roy
(b) Jyotiba Phule
(c) Balgangadhar Tilak
(d) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

4. Who among the following is an enlightened thinker whose writings are said to have created conditions for a revolution in France? [CBSE (CCE) 2011]
(a) Rousseau
(b) Louise Setastin Mercier
(c) Menocchio
(d) Johann Gutenberg

5. Which religious reformer was responsible for the Reformation Movement?
(a) Martin Luther
(b) Martin Luther King
(c) The Grimm Brothers
(d) George Elliot

6. Who among the following was not a women novelist?
(a) Jane Austen
(b) Bronte Sisters
(c) George Eliot
(d) Maxim Gorky

7. Which of the following countries was the earliest producer of printing material?
(a) Persia
(b) India
(c) China
(d) Japan

8. From where did Marcopolo bring back the knowledge of wood block printing to Italy?
(a) China
(b) Japan
(c) Sri Lanka
(d) India

9. By whom was the New Testament first translated?
(a) Erasmus
(b) Leonardo da vince
(c) Martin Luther
(d) Manocchio

10. In ancient India which of the following material was used for writing manuscripts?
(a) Parchments
(b) Vellum
(c) Palm leaves
(d) Paper

11. Name the first weekly magazine published in India by Gangadhar Bhattacharya.
(a) Anandabazar Patrika
(b) Bengal Gazette
(c) Yugantar
(d) Sambad Kaumudi

12. By whom was ‘Sambad Kaumudi’ published’ in 1821?
(a) Iswer Chandra Vidyasagar
(b) C.R. Das
(c) Raja Rammohun Roy
(d) Swami Vivekanand

13. ‘Amar Jiban’ is the autobiography of which of the following woman author?
(a) Rashsundari Debi
(b) Rokeya Hossein
(c) Kailashbashini Devi
(d) Pandita Ramabai

14. Who among the following was popularly known as Periyar ?
(a) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
(b) Jyotiba Phule
(c) E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker
(d) S. Naidu

15. Which one of the following best explains calligraphy ?
(a) The art of painting
(b) The art of map drawing
(c) The art of beautiful and stylised writing
(d) The art of sketching

16. ‘Edo’ was the earlier name of which of the following places ?
(a) Shanghai
(b) Tokyo
(c) Seoul
(d) Hongkong

17. Vellum refers to
(a) parchment made from the skin of animals.
(b) written material made from the bark of trees.
(c) paper made out of pulp.
(d) written material made from cloth.

18. Who was Marcopolo ?
(a) German scientist
(b) English philosopher
(c) Spanish explorer
(d) Italian traveller/explorer

19. Which of the following inspired Gutenberg to design and model a printing press ?
(a) Wood block printing of China
(b) Olive press in agricultural estates
(c) Hand written manuscripts
(d) Print technology of Japan

20 Martin Luther’s writings and ideas led to which of the following movements ?
(a) Counter Reformation Movement
(b) Renaissance Movement
(c) Reformation Movement
(d) Intellectual Movement

21. The reformation movement was launched against the corrupt practices of which of the following group ?
(a) Feudal Lords
(b) Protestant Church
(c) Catholic Church
(d) Absolute rulers

22. Which of the following refers to ‘inquisition’ ?
(a) Protestant tribunal to punish heretics
(b) Catholic court to try and punish the heretics
(c) The state judicial body for punishing the criminals
(d) All the above

23. Aim of Protestant Reformation was to
(a) reform religion
(b) reform the Catholic church
(c) reform Jewish religion
(d) to protest against all reform

24. Erasmus was a
(a) Latin scholar and Catholic reformer
(b) French scholar who advocated Protestantism
(c) Swedish scholar who translated the Bible
(d) British scholar who opposed Catholic Church

25. What was chapbooks ?
(a) Books which were cheap
(b) The pocket size books sold by travelling peddler
(c) Book sold on footpath
(d) Handwritten books

26. An alamnac refers to
(a) a ritual calendar
(b) a dictionary
(c) a religious book
(d) a long poem

27. In France what was known as ‘Biliotheque Bleue’ ?
(a) A blue coloured book
(b) A blue coloured, cheap book made out of poor quality paper
(c) A book made of excellent blue silk for rich people
(d) A blue coloured writing pad

28. Which 18th century French novelist declared, ‘The printing press is the most powerful engine of progress’ ?
(a) Rousseau
(b) Voltaire
(c) Mercier
(d) Montesquieh

29. The print culture created condition for which of the following revolutions ?
(a) French Revolution
(b) Russian Revolution
(c) Glorious Revolution
(d) American Revolution

30. Penny magazine was meant only for
(a) old people
(b) poor people
(c) women
(d) children

31. The scribes refer to
(a) Authors
(b) Poets
(c) Skilled hand writers
(d) Skilled painters

32. Which of the following refers to print revolution ?
(a) Invention of printing press
(b) Shift from hand printing to mechanical printing
(c) Revolt of people against printed matters
(d) Handwritten manuscripts for printed books

33. Mark the correct response. Due to invention of printing press
(a) reading culture developed
(b) cost of books was reduced
(c) the time and labour required to produce books came down
(d) all the above

34. Richard M. Hoe of New York was well known for
(a) inventing the printing press
(b) perfecting the power-driven cylindrical press
(c) for inventing woodblock printing
(d) for inventing electrical typing machine.

35. Why was James Augustus Hickey persecuted by Governor General Warren Hastings ?
(a) For poor editing of Bengal Gazette
(b) For publishing a lot of gossip about company’s Senior Official
(c) For writing propaganda material against the Indian
(d) For publishing sub standard material

36. With what purpose was the Vernacular Press Act passed by Lord Lyton in 1878 ?
(a) To popularise Vernacular Press
(b) To supervise Vernacular Press
(c) To clamp down and censor the native press
(d) To encourage authors writing in Indian languages.

37. Why was the Vernacular Act of 1878 opposed by the Indians ?
(a) It did not allow the Indian authors to write in their newspapers.
(b) It challenged the freedom of press of the Indians.
(c) It encouraged the Indians to publish religious materials in the newspapers.
(d) To defy colonialism.

38. How did nationalist newspapers inspire nationalism in India ? Mark the most appropriate answer.
(a) By writing various articles in the newspapers.
(b) By publishing the speeches of nationalist leaders.
(c) By reporting the colonialm is rule and encouraging nationalist activities through press.
(d) By encouraging Indian authors.

ANSWERS