When I think about technology, the first thing that comes to mind are the technological advances in my lifetime. Ultra-HD TVs, smartwatches, smartphones (it seems like everything is smart in our age) and many others are dominating our conversations and minds when talking about technologies. We are so focused on the 21 century that we forget about advances made in the past; crucial advances that define the world we live in today. Going as far as the 15th century, we can examine the invention of the printing press and its contribution to increasing literacy.
In Europe, before the invention of the printed text, books were recorded as manuscripts. Illuminated manuscripts (handwritten texts with drawings) were an extreme luxury. They were reserved for the literate elite and usually contained prayers, such as Très Riches Heures owned by Jean, Duke of Berry. I think this manuscript is a truly fascinating work of art; it starts with the calendar, one page for every month of the year. Pages contain images of nobility dressed in fine robes, spring-time walks of ladies and lords, and lavish celebrations; as a contrast, some of the pages illustrate peasants and their lives. Illustrations are presented as comparisons between two social hierarchies. Peasants are portrayed as crude and uneducated. When they are lounging around the fire on February’s page, their skirts are too high up exposing their genitalia; in the springtime, they are working in the field, unlike the nobility that enjoys free time. This portrayal underlines the separate positions nobility and peasantry occupied, and in this case, meant to occupy. From the aristocracy's perspective, it was their right to govern and peasantry’s to serve; this was the natural order of things and each side was meant to feel content with their fates.
Despite the printing being practiced in China as early as the 2nd century, it was first mechanized in Europe in the 15th century. The type was supposed to resemble handwriting styles and some of the letters were colored in by hand. The mechanized printing allows more people to have access to books due to a faster distribution of copies, thus the invention of the printing press encouraged literacy. The majority of prints had devotional purposes; prayers and pictures with Christian motives were widely circulated. The printing press did not only encourage literacy but brought art into people’s lives who otherwise could not afford to commission the paintings. Printed images were used for meditation at home and gave access to images people could previously only observe in churches. The invention of the printed text caused the social shift, as well. The society redistributed, allowing another literate class, independent of the aristocracy, to emerge.
The world we know today would be different if not for this crucial invention. Literacy would’ve been reserved for the nobility for many more years. The development of the educated non-aristocratic class in Europe began from the moment of this invention, which resulted in more scientists coming from a common background. We would’ve been set technologically back for years since many bright minds would not have even existed due to their ancestors lacking simple access to reading. Out of a lack of literacy in the past at this moment of time, we would not have scientific breakthroughs in the present. I would not be typing this blog on my laptop and would not receive text messages from my friends on a smartphone. As a young woman, I would not have the power of voice. You can consider it is a butterfly effect; if one thing in the past is missing many others are unrealized or destroyed in the present.
Technologies continue having an influence on the way we receive our information. Recent moves to E-Readers (such as Kindle, Samsung reading tablets, or Book app on apple devices) continue making books more available to masses. The price of paper books are high, some people feel uncomfortable carrying around heavy volumes, some are concerned with environmental impact. Personally, I love the feeling of a smooth paper under my fingertips, pressing down on pages to flatten them out, and the smell of a new book. However, with transfer to digital platforms, readers have a wider selection of books and can build extensive libraries without physical copies, which makes me interested in transferring myself. Despite constantly buying new books and building my own library, it never feels enough but the physical restrictions of my bookshelves stop me from buying more and more books. With E-Readers, I will be able to build a library with hundreds of books without worrying about the storage space.
Technologies continue creating differences not only in the comfort level of our lives but in the social order of society.