NCERT Solutions Class 10 Social Science History
(India and the Contemporary World – II)
The NCERT Solutions in English Language for Class 10 Social Science – History (India and the Contemporary World – II) Chapter – 5 (Print Culture and the Modern World) has been provided here to help the students in solving the questions from this exercise.
Chapter – 5 (Print Culture and the Modern World)
Exercises
| Write in brief |
1. Give reason for the following:
a) Woodblock print only came to Europe after 1295.
Answer – Woodblock print was invented around the sixth century in China. It came to Europe, along with Marco Polo, in 1295. Marco Polo returned to Italy after many years of exploration in China, and he brought the knowledge of woodblock print with him on his return.
b) Martin Luther was in favour of print and spoke out in praise of it.
Answer – Martin Luther was in favour of print and spoke out in praise of it because print media helped popularise and spread his ideas. In 1517, he wrote the Ninety Five Theses, criticising the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church. These writings were immediately reproduced in vast numbers and read widely. His translation of the New Testament was also accepted and read by thousands. This was only possible due to the improvements in print technology which had allowed even the working classes to gain access to books.
c) The Roman Catholic Church began keeping an Index of prohibited books from the mid-sixteenth century
Answer – The Roman Catholic Church began keeping an index of Prohibited books from the mid-sixteenth century because its authority was being put in danger by the several individual and distinctive readings and questionings of faith prompted by the easily accessible popular religious literature. To supplement its inquisition and repression of heretical ideas, the Roman Catholic Church exercised strict control over publishers and booksellers, and also began to keep an Index of Prohibited Books from 1558.
d) Gandhi said the fight for Swaraj is a fight for the liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and freedom of association.
Answer – Mahatma Gandhi said these words in 1922 during the Non-cooperation Movement (1920-22). 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.
2. Write short notes on what you know about:
a) The Gutenberg Press
Answer – The Gutenberg Press was the first printing press of Europe. It was invented by Johannes Gutenberg of Strasbourg. He grew up in a large agricultural estate and had knowledge and experience in operating olive and wine presses. He invented the printing press around the year 1448, with the Bible being the first book to be printed.
b) Erasmus’s idea of the printed book
Answer – Erasmus’s idea of printed book: Erasmus was the Latin scholar and a Catholic reformer. He criticized the printing of books. He thought that most of the books are stupid, ignorant, scandalous, raving, irreligious and seditious. According to him such books devaluate the valuable books.
c) The Vernacular Press Act
Answer – The Vernacular Press Act was passed in 1878 by the British government in India. This act provided the government with extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press. If a vernacular paper published any seditious material, the paper was banned, and its printing machinery was seized and destroyed.
3. What did the spread of print culture in the nineteenth century India mean to:
a) Women
Answer – Women became as important as readers and writers. Reading habits improved among them. With an increase in literacy, women took a great interest in reading and writing. Many journals started emphasizing the importance of women’s education. Many magazines and books were especially published for women. The print culture gave women some amount of freedom to read and develop their own views on various issues, especially those related to women.
b) The poor
Answer – They benefitted from the spread of print culture in India on account of the availability of low-price books and public libraries. Enlightening essays were written against caste discrimination and its inherent injustices. These were read by people across the country. On the encouragement and support of social reformers, over-worked factory workers set up libraries for self-education, and some of them even published their own works, for example, Kashibaba and his “Chhote Aur Bade Sawal”.
c) Reformers
Answer – Print culture’s popularity was an advantage for social and religious reformers as they could now spread their opinions, through newspapers and books, across the masses. These ideas could then be debated upon by different groups of people. Reformist ideas were put forward in the local, everyday languages of the common people so as to create a wider platform for the same.
| Discuss |
1. Why did some people in the eighteenth century Europe think that culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism?
Answer – Some people in eighteenth century Europe thought that print culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism. Printing pr^ss was the most powerful engine of progress and public opinion was the force that would destroy the basis of despotism. Such were the views of Louise-Sebastien Mercier, a novelist in eighteenth century France. In many of Mercier’s novels, the heroes are transformed by acts of reading. They devour books, are lost in the world books create, and become enlightened in the process. He was convinced of the power of print and proclaimed : ‘Tremble, therefore, tyrants of the world! Tremble before the virtual writer’.
2. Why did some people fear the effect of easily available printed books? Choose one example from Europe and one from India.
Answer – Some people, especially from the upper class, feared the effect of easily available printed books due to the spread of literacy among the common people. They feared that they might lose their position or authorities. Some people thought that it might lead to the spread of rebellions and irreligious thoughts.
Example:
(i) In Europe, the Roman Catholic Church tried to curb printed books through the Index of Prohibited Books.
(ii) In India, the Vernacular Press Act imposed restrictions on Indian press and various local newspapers.
3. What were the effects of the spread of print culture for poor people in nineteenth-century India?
Answer – The effects of the spread of print culture for poor people in the nineteenth century India were:
- The poor people benefited from the spread of print culture in India on account of the availability of low-priced books and public libraries.
- Enlightening essays were written against caste discrimination and its inherent injustices. These were read by people across the country.
- On the encouragement and support of social reformers, over-worked factory workers set up libraries for self-education, and some of them even published their own works, for example, Kashibaba and his “Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal”.
4. Explain how the print culture assisted in the growth of nationalism in India.
Answer – Print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India by providing easy access to nationalist ideals and ideas of freedom and equality to the masses. Social reformers could now print their opinions in newspapers, which sparked off public debates. The power of reason made the common people question the authority of colonial power. Interestingly, when the British tried to censor and control print media, nationalist newspapers grew in number everywhere in the country. They reported on colonial misrule and encouraged people to participate in nationalist activities. Attempts to censor anti-colonial publications aroused militant protests as well.
