Commercial print culture in Colonial India

This paper deals with deals with three major aspects of commercial print culture in Colonial India. 1. History of commercial print, initial ventures and motives 2. Problems in writing the history of book and Framework of studying cultural aspect of commercial printing 3. Issues of Literacy, Readership patterns, indigenous responses to print culture etc. Through a case study of the Naval Kishore Press of Lucknow (est. 1858), the largest Indianowned printing press and publishing house in the subcontinent at the time, author of the book tries to investigate the impact of the commercial book trade on the diffusion and laicization of knowledge, and on processes of intellectual formation, modernization, and cultural renaissance in North India. More specifically, it explores the role of a singularly influential and prolific publisher in the production, transmission, and canonization of printed texts in the North Indian languages of Hindi and Urdu during a decisive moment in their shared and divided history. Naval Kishore Kumar Press: Is one of largest Indian owned printing press in colonial India dying 19th century. Munshi naval Kishore Kumar, the founder of NKP was a multifaceted urban literate who ventured into publishing. He embodied Indo Muslim and Hindu learned tradition. His self-perception was a strong sense of publishers cultural mission to the society combining the capitalistic principle of profit making and increasing turnover with literacy and cultural patronage. This policy accounted for the development of the NKP as a vibrant intellectual meeting place, where scholars and literati of various backgrounds would gather and interact. Focussing on Indian publishing house, Stark seems to suggest that early commercial printing in colonial India was a venture as much entrepreneurial as intellectual. The foremost pioneers in Indian commercial publishing were not just savvy businessmen. Rather, they were well educated urban literati deeply engaged in the intellectual and literary life of their time who shared its larger cultural, cognitive, and social concerns. The more successful among them combined learning, cultural expertise, and antiquarian interests with craftsmanship and a keen sense of business. Some of them are While performing various roles of entrepreneur, publicist, literary patron, philanthropist, the foremost pioneers of Indian Publishing; Fardunji Sorabji Marzban in Bombay, Munshi Harsukh Rai in Lahore, Maulvi Abdul Rahman Khan in Kanpur, Mustafa Khan and Munshi Naval Kishore in Lucknow assumed importance not only as early industrialists but also as intellectual path breakers and intermediaries. She also suggests that commercialization of print and introduction of industrial printing technologies played a key role in the transformation of printed text from a sacred artefact and cultural asset to easily available consumer product.

Preparing ground: towards a history of the book n India The history of the book in India is a history largely untold. Compare to huge amount of Compared to the huge number of excellent empirical and theoretical studies on the history of the book in the West, book history in South Asia is still in its formative phase. Despite the general consensus that print in its twin manifestations of newspaper and the printed book, was crucial to the project of Indian modernity and effected major transformations in the cultural, literary, and political domains, scholars of South Asia have only recently begun to respond to the immense challenge posed by the history of the book in Indian regional languages. The fact that the academic contributions to the history of the book in India and, more specifically, in Hindi and Urdu, are still limited in number naturally does not make the task any easier. The study of the printed book in the subcontinent continues to pose particular problems to researchers. The difficulties confronted include the scarcity of basic empirical data on just about every aspect of production, transmission, and consumption. Factual knowledge of material, infrastructural, and operational aspects of the regional-language book trade, of author-publisher and publisher-bookseller relations, of readership and consumption practices is still limited.

The Publishing house and Literary System: In this section author discuses three major Frame works that can help us in understanding the commercial aspects. Robert Darntons Communication circuit: has provided a classic analytical model of theorizing the life cycle of book through stages of production, transmission and consumption however this frame work is highly critiqued for being too rigid, overly deterministic and lack of contextualization Bourdieus Articulation of literary field more commonly identified as Radical contextualization: a frame work not only encompasses various agents operating in literary production but also changing social, economic, political and technological conditions in which they are effected. The internalization of field Bourdieu contends is marked by hierarchical structures and fundamental opposition between two sub fields. They are 1. Restricted Production: (small-scale avant-garde) publishers who invest in works of literary and aesthetic value, believe in art for arts sake', and are concerned with the excellence of their craft) 2. Large Scale Production: commercially oriented publishers, who invest in the mass production of saleable texts and measure value in purely financial terms. Peter U. Hohendahls articulation of institution of literature. (Theory of institutionalization): allows us to see publishing house as an institutional sphere of

other sub-institutions involved in literary production and transmission depending on nature, function and agenda. In south Asian context Francesca Orsini has drawn successful interpretations using Hohendahls framework an demonstrated how educated Indians advanced their political, social and literary agendas through creating institutional spheres. In the exploration of nineteenth century Hindi and Urdu literary culture, the role of the publisher is an understudied area. The commercial publishing house assumed a dual function within the literary field that was both reflective and innovative, the successful publisher's choices not only responded to readership tastes and reflected processes of canonization as well as current trends in literary activity, and they also shaped these processes.

Literacy, Readership and consumption: An important aspect of book history is concerned with literacy and practice of reading. In the subcontinent the printed book entered, and came to flourish in, a world deeply imbued with oral traditions: it coexisted and interacted with old and strong oral cultures. At the same time, India boasted a rich and highly refined manuscript culture. C.A Bayly argues: 'a society acutely aware of literacy, where even the poor could gain access to writers and readers at a cost', and where illiteracy 'did not preclude sophistication in using others' learning' (Bayly 1996: 13, 38) The power and prestige of writing and the written word was acknowledged not only by the literate castes but by a much larger section of the population. Even to the illiterate, the printed book could constitute an object of veneration and seem a prized possession. In the pre-colonial period basic literacy among non-elite castes may have been more widespread than has been generally assumed (Ghosh 1998: 187). In this context, one is well advised to remember Roger Chartier's articulation of the 'wide range of reading abilities' existing between literacy and illiteracy (Chartier 1984: 236-7). Literacy and Literary Awareness: According to NWP census of 1872 male literacy was 3% and female literacy is almost nil. The 1881 census listed 6.6 per cent of the mare population in the province as 'literates' or 'scholars', an expression of British officials grappling with the need to further distinguish between the functionally and fully literate. At 6.4 and 6.6 per cent, literacy among Hindus and Muslims was almost equal and stood in stark contrast to the high literacy of 51 .6% prevailing among Jains. Female literacy: considering the female literacy is almost nil, however the accounts say literary awareness is present in urban women. Early fears and superstations on harmful effects of female literacy started wearing out after British educations reforms that introduced text books for girls. During this time there were books published targeting woman readings. Mirat al arus 1869 (the Brides mirror) turned out to be best seller among those text and presumably the first peace of modern fiction targeted to women. Fears of wrong reading in

women lead to strong control over books intended for women audiences and most of the publications are of patriarchal ideology propagating in nature.

Readership and Consumption: Bayly points out that sophisticated systems of written social communication is existed in preprint era. He argues that print in itself did not create information revolution but has speeded up the velocity of range and communication among existed communities. The idea of oral traditions replacing by print tradition was contended in south Asian context since they coexisted and complemented each other. Stuart Blackburn suggests that bring did not bring in new genres but reproduced old genres in new format. Before commercial print arrived, authors were patronised by royal courts. This court-poet author relationship after the advent of commercial printed book has been reduced to publisher-author relationship. The authors popularity or success is calculated to saleability of his book. Indigenous responses to print: Commercial publishers operated in and negotiated a field of conflicting opinions in relation to print. Some sections of urban literati believed that print culture has laid ways for the enlightenment. This ides of progressiveness towards modernity was not shared by many and was total rejected by nationalistic historians. Print was adapted by orthodox and reformers, by traditionalists, revivalists and modernists with different agendas of their own to propagate ideas and exerting influence through various print means like newspapers, pamphlets etc. some criticised commercial cheap book and questioned their aesthetic value comparing t manuscripts. Author also give an account of the great poet Mirza Ghalib, in a lighter vein, poked fun at a learned friend of his, insinuating that the latter owed his entire erudition to 'having purchased fifty rupees' worth of two-penny books' (Rahbar 1987: 127). Evidently, the general accessibility and democratizing trajectory of the printed book provoked latent fears about appropriations of elite knowledge by the populace. Conclusion: Commercial print in Colonial India initially started as a vocational venture by urban literati who took the burden of preserving the indigenous culture. The Icons of India print era were elites from various fields who combined the modern capitalistic principals of profit making as well as creating strong literary spheres in society. Publishers like Munshi Naval Kishore Kumar applied similar policy by reaching popular audiences through low priced publications and also created new literary spheres by converting rare manuscripts in to books for their aesthetic value.