Print Cultures in the Making in 19th- and 20th-Century South Asia: Beyond Disciplinary Boundaries

Cristina Pecchia,Johanna Buss,Alaka A Chudal

doi:10.1163/24519197-bja10019

Abstract

Abstract The study of the history of print technology in South Asia is a multidisciplinary enterprise which involves attentive consideration of the cultural and linguistic diversity of the region, as well as of the historical time in which print technology was massively adopted, namely the colonial period. Here, we focus on the complex fabric of relationships between print and modes of recording and using texts in long present oral and manuscript cultures, also pointing out the limits of applying interpretative models based on the cultural history of Europe to the histories of print in South Asia. Furthermore, we present aspects of the formative stage of print cultures concerning Vedic, Limbu, Nepali, Newari, and Tamil textual traditions—which are studied in the essays of this special issue. This multi-layered perspective helps making sense of social and cultural dynamics concerning the uses of printed books, the (new) meanings associated with them, and the formation of hegemonic configurations within literary and religious traditions.

Highlights

A massive adoption of print technology took place in South Asia during the nineteenth century
In investigating the phase in which specific texts or groups of texts turned to print, the five articles in this issue of Philological Encounters examine cultural, social, religious, and political factors that constitute the fabric of print cultures in South Asia, and devote attention to largely unexplored matters concerning interaction and continuities with the existing oral and manuscript cultures
In speaking of print culture, we refer to a set of aspects concerning the production, distribution, use, and circulation of texts reproduced by means of print technologies, namely xylography, lithography, movable-type letterpress, or other techniques used to impress a text on a support

Summary

Introduction

A massive adoption of print technology took place in South Asia during the nineteenth century. In investigating the phase in which specific texts or groups of texts turned to print, the five articles in this issue of Philological Encounters examine cultural, social, religious, and political factors that constitute the fabric of print cultures in South Asia, and devote attention to largely unexplored matters concerning interaction and continuities with the existing oral and manuscript cultures. Such matters were the focus of the symposium “Manuscript, Print and Publication Cultures in South Asia:

Cambridge

Conclusion