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Printing

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Printing Volti Chapter 11 – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Printing


1
Printing
  • Volti Chapter 11

2
Printing
  • Of all technologies, perhaps none have had the
    greatest impact as printing
  • The development of a written language is one of
    the hallmarks of civilization
  • Spoken language characteristic of all societies,
    yet not all have written language
  • Many cultures that have written language have
    only developed this recently often because of the
    influence of other societies (missionaries, etc.)
  • A written language is an essential technology -
    keeping accounts, recording history, transmission
    of ideas and culture
  • "Much that red men know, they forget they have
    no way to preserve it . White men make what they
    know fast on paper like catching a wild animal
    and taming it."
  • Sequoyah

3
The Printing Revolution
  • Effects of written language were minimal when it
    was understood only by a few people
  • Before written language, humans developed
    astonishing memories to record events
  • Introduction of printing with moveable type -
    originated in the Orient
  • 4th Cent. A.D. - Chinese copying stone
    inscriptions with paper rubbings
  • 7th Cent. A.D. - Chinese used carved wood blocks
  • Printing moved much slower through Europe
  • 1400 - Italy playing cards and pictures of
    saints made from wooden blocks
  • Johann Gutenberg - developed workable system of
    printing with separate pieces of type
  • Printing books required more advanced technology
    than just printing a single page
  • More advanced inks and binding methods emerged
  • Books printed from moveable type were harbingers
    to the age of mass production

4
Printing and the Expansion of Knowledge
  • Printing, in particular, books, did much to
    transform European society
  • Allowed for the transmission of ideas
  • Allowed for more accurate map making and
    navigation
  • Allowed for the advance of science - data could
    be recorded more accurately
  • Literacy spread

5
Printing and the Rise of Protestantism
  • The circulation of books allowed for people to
    collective challenge the dominant Catholic order
  • The Protestant Reformation resulted
  • The printed bible allowed worshipers to seek
    Gods word directly rather than through the
    Church which was the traditional intercessor
  • "Gods highest and extremest act of grace,
    whereby the business of the Gospel is driven
    forward"
  • (Martin Luther on the invention of printing)
  • Catholic Church also used the printed word to
    transmit its message but not to the extent of the
    Protestant Church

6
Printing, Literacy, and Social Change
  • Protestants, motivated by biblical reading,
    became quite literate
  • The people, however, most driven to read were the
    clergy
  • Books still very expensive and somewhat rare
  • A more literate society could begin to ponder new
    ideas, especially those relating to social change
  • The relationship between printing and social
    change is reciprocal - one does not cause the
    other, but rather, both influence the other

7
Psychological Effects of Printing
  • Printing resulted in a greater sense of ones
    separateness from the rest of society - reading
    is a solitary activity
  • Marshall McLuhan - Printed books fundamentally
    altered societies not solely from the ideas
    transmitted, but the medium itself altered the
    way we look at the world. Reading requires us to
    think in a sequential manner, just as a sentence
    is read from left to right.

8
Newspapers
  • For centuries, the book was the end product of
    the printing press
  • First newspaper appeared in the 17th century in
    Europe
  • First newspapers - poor type, hard to read,
    contained more sensational news than actual news
  • Again, one technology is often driven by the
    development of other technologies
  • Steam power...
  • steam ships and railroads...
  • transports report to various locations...
  • news is transmitted back through the use of
    telegraphs...
  • Newspapers gain relevance as worthy news becomes
    available.

9
Circulation Wars and The Shaping of Public
Opinion
  • Mass production of newspapers made them more
    affordable
  • Newspaper readership increases as cost decreases
  • Newspapers become important vehicle for shaping
    public opinion
  • New York Journal (William Randolph Hearst)
    favored involvement in Spanish American War 1898
  • Newspapers did not cause war, but sensational
    stories reported did not help avert war
  • Other factors contributing to the rise of
    newspaper readers
  • "Also, Urbanization and immigration produced
    large concentrations of population from which a
    mass readership could be drawn. Finally, a more
    democratic social order generated an environment
    in which the common man gained in political and
    economic importance as the first of the mass
    media, newspapers were a natural
  • outgrowth of mass society"
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