New Forms of Publication
Printing created an appetite for new kinds of writing. As more people could read, they wanted to see their own lives and feelings reflected — the novel, a European form, ideally met this need and soon took Indian forms. Other new forms — lyrics, short stories and essays — also appeared.
A new visual culture took shape: with more presses, visual images could be reproduced in multiple copies. Painters like Raja Ravi Varma produced images for mass circulation, and cheap prints and calendars could be bought even by the poor. By the 1870s, caricatures and cartoons in journals and newspapers commented on social and political issues — some mocking Western tastes, others lampooning nationalists or criticising imperial rule.
Women, the Poor and Lower Castes
Women's reading increased in middle-class homes, and women's schools were set up after the mid-nineteenth century — though conservatives feared that literate girls would be widowed or corrupted. Some rebel women defied this: Rashsundari Debi, in an orthodox household, learnt to read in secret and wrote Amar Jiban (1876), the first full-length autobiography in Bengali. Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai wrote about the miserable lives of upper-caste widows.
For the poor and lower castes, print became a means of protest. Jyotiba Phule wrote about caste injustice in Gulamgiri (1871); in the twentieth century B.R. Ambedkar and E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker (Periyar) wrote powerfully on caste, read all over India. Cheap books reached the poor in Madras, and mill workers (like Kashibaba in Kanpur, and Bangalore workers who set up libraries) used print for self-education.
Print and Censorship
Before 1798, the colonial state was not much concerned with censorship — its early controls were directed against Englishmen critical of Company misrule. By the 1820s the Calcutta Supreme Court passed regulations, but in 1835 Governor-General Bentinck, advised by Thomas Macaulay, restored the earlier freedoms.
After the revolt of 1857, the attitude changed. As vernacular newspapers became assertively nationalist, the government passed the Vernacular Press Act of 1878 (modelled on the Irish Press Laws), giving it wide powers to censor the vernacular press: a paper judged seditious was warned, and if the warning was ignored, the press was seized and machinery confiscated. Despite this, nationalist newspapers grew. When Punjab revolutionaries were deported in 1907, Balgangadhar Tilak wrote sympathetically in his Kesari, leading to his imprisonment in 1908 and widespread protests.
Questions and Answers
Q1. What new forms of publication and visual culture developed in India with print? Ans. The novel (in Indian forms), lyrics, short stories and essays developed. A new visual culture arose as images were reproduced in multiple copies — Raja Ravi Varma's mass prints, cheap calendars, and, from the 1870s, caricatures and cartoons on social and political issues.
Q2. Describe the growth of women's reading and writing in India. Ans. Women's reading increased and women's schools were set up after the mid-nineteenth century, despite conservative fears. Rebel women like Rashsundari Debi (whose Amar Jiban, 1876, was the first full-length Bengali autobiography) and writers like Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai wrote about women's lives.
Questions and Answers (continued)
Q3. What were the effects of print culture for poor people and lower castes in India? Ans. Print gave the poor and lower castes a voice of protest. Jyotiba Phule wrote Gulamgiri (1871) on caste injustice; Ambedkar and Periyar wrote powerfully on caste. Cheap books reached the poor in Madras, and mill workers set up libraries for self-education.
Q4. What was the Vernacular Press Act of 1878? Ans. Passed after the revolt of 1857, and modelled on the Irish Press Laws, the Vernacular Press Act (1878) gave the government wide powers to censor the vernacular press. A newspaper judged seditious was warned, and if it ignored the warning, its press was seized and its machinery confiscated.
Questions and Answers (continued)
Q5. Explain how print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India. Ans. Despite censorship like the Vernacular Press Act, nationalist newspapers grew across India, reporting on colonial misrule and encouraging nationalist activities. Writers like Tilak (in Kesari) inspired protest; attempts to throttle the press only provoked more protest, so print became a powerful vehicle of nationalism.