Print Culture and the Modern World — Practice

Question 1

Who developed the first printing press in Europe and around when?

Accepted Answer

Johann Gutenberg, around 1448.

✦ Answer: Gutenberg, c.1448.

Question 2

Name the first newspaper published in India.

Accepted Answer

The Bengal Gazette (1780), by James Augustus Hickey.

✦ Answer: Bengal Gazette (1780).

Question 3

What was the Vernacular Press Act?

Accepted Answer

An 1878 law giving the British government power to censor and suppress Indian-language newspapers.

✦ Answer: an 1878 censorship law on the Indian-language press.

Question 4

What was the 'reading mania' in Europe?

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — Cheap, plentiful printed books created a large new reading public.

Step 2 — People eagerly read ballads, tales, almanacs and newspapers.

✦ Answer: a surge in reading among the wider public thanks to cheap print.

Question 5

How did print help the Protestant Reformation?

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — Martin Luther's writings were printed and spread rapidly and widely.

Step 2 — This fuelled debate and dissent against the Church, which responded with an Index of Prohibited Books.

✦ Answer: it spread Luther's ideas quickly, enabling religious dissent.

Question 6

How did print encourage social reform debates in India?

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — Vernacular newspapers and pamphlets carried arguments on sati, widow remarriage and caste.

Step 2 — Reformers (e.g. Rammohun Roy) and their opponents debated publicly in print.

✦ Answer: it opened public debate on social issues to a wide audience.

Question 7

Explain how print culture contributed to the French Revolution.

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — Print spread Enlightenment ideas (Rousseau, Voltaire) questioning tradition and authority.

Step 2 — It created a culture of debate and criticism of the monarchy.

Step 3 — Cartoons and writings mocked the ruling order, shaping public opinion.

✦ Answer: it spread critical ideas and built a debating public that questioned the old order.

Question 8

How did the British respond to nationalist print, and what was the effect?

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — They passed the Vernacular Press Act (1878) to censor and shut Indian-language papers.

Step 2 — When leaders like Tilak were tried, the press spread protest.

Step 3 — Print continued to carry nationalist ideas despite censorship.

✦ Answer: censorship laws were imposed, but nationalist print persisted and spread protest.

Question 9

How did print affect women's lives in India?

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — Reading among women grew, though sometimes opposed by conservatives.

Step 2 — Women authors (e.g. Rashsundari Debi's Amar Jiban) wrote about their lives.

✦ Answer: it expanded women's reading and gave them a voice in print.

Practice — Print Culture and the Modern World

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