Explain the key cultural and social changes associated with the adoption of print communication in early modernEurope and then discuss the significance for Aboriginal culture of the use of print media in the colonisation of Australia. The advent and consequent widespread adoption of print communication in early modern Europe had massive social and cultural consequences. “By radically increasing the number of books and reducing their cost, printing had great social, economic and intellectual impact on European civilisation” (Saenger 1975 p.416). Print communication by opening information to the public drastically altered literacy, employment, religion, power relations and social structure in early modern Europe. Similarly print communication played a key role in aiding the Christianising, and colonisation of Australia, acting to suppress and dramatically alter the oral nature of Indigenous culture as well as providing a method of dissent in some cases. It is clear that print communication has been a major influence in society since its inception with Francis Bacon naming printing, along with gunpowder and the compass, as the three things that had transformed “the appearance and state of the whole world” (Bacon 1900 p.366). The printing press was a very influential force in altering the “fundamentally oral nature of European culture” (Briggs & Burke 2005 p.23). In the Middle Ages oral communication dominated Europe with governments, academics, churches and the ‘oral postal service’ taking advantage of the usefulness of the pulpit for communicating information. Thus the printing press presumably invented by Gutenberg in approximately 1450 aided the “shift from an oral folk culture to a print made one” (Eisenstein 1993 p.xiii). It is argued (Yoon 2006) that the advent of the printing press weakened European oral traditions and advance textual record-keeping. This shift to text was quite rapid as by 1500 the printing press could be found in over 250 locations in Europe, with around 13 million books circulated by that time. Mumford argues that “the swiftness and economy of the printing press, compared with…spoken word more than makes up for the other human qualities that were forfeited through the invention of the printing press” (Mumford 2006 p.94). However the oral culture of early modern Europe was not entirely destroyed by the adoption of print communication. Books began to be written in a manner similar to speech, many preachers were influenced by texts such as the bible and printed ballads were used in oral performances. This illustrates that “the old media of oral and manuscript 26). For example Briggs and Burke (2005) explain that scientific subjects were debated in Child’s coffee house and Café de Maugis in Paris was a centre for attacks on religion. Through this compartmentalization of the information the print revolution brought to rise “new forms of identity began to compete with an older more localized nexus of loyalties” (Eisenstein 2006 p.102). “Early modern Europe was a society of restricted literacy in which only a minority of the population could read and fewer still could write” (Briggs and Burke 2005 p. “To hear an address delivered.101). This is due to the individualistic nature of print culture compared to oral culture. but instead it was spread among the population. people have to come together. The printing press allowed for the production of texts which both entertained and informed.56). 2). However the printing press brought about new types of communities with clubs and micro-communities developing around different subject areas of printed information. “Bookshops. “eventually leading to higher literacy rates” (Yoon 2006 p. coffeehouses.102). it was perhaps the prerequisite for a literate public altogether” (Waters 2001p. It is claimed (Schopflin 2003) that as a result of this production of versatile text. the nineteenth century newspaper was key to the establishment of a national consciousness. For example “in .communication coexisted and interacted with the new media of print” (Briggs and Burke 2005 p. It is clear the printing press inevitably destabilized the local oral cultures of early modern Europe and the associated communities that developed around the oral dissemination of information. In a similar fashion Anderson (1983) argues that by regarding its readership as a community or a national public. The extensive increase in literacy also helped to widen the spread of once exclusive information to more people via print communication. Hence the “printing press was a prerequisite for the distribution of identical texts to a literate public indeed. to read a printed report encourages individuals to draw apart” (Eisenstein 2006 p. literacy was no longer reserved for about 2–3 percent of the population.7). reading rooms provided new kinds of communal gathering places (Eisenstein 2006 p. The adoption of print communication in early modern Europe also had a profound affect on the literacy of the general public. It is through these textual gathering places that individuals could form a community and shared identity on the basis of different interests. “the art of printing will so spread knowledge that the common people. Thus it was “easy for the church to control an illiterate world… .14). It is for this reason that the printing press is commonly thought to be one of the greatest inventions in history. knowing of their own rights and liberties. namely the church.62). It is apparent that by increasing literacy rates and allowing for the widespread distribution of texts.fifteenth century England mercers engaged in manuscript book trade were already catering to the needs of lowly bakers and merchants” (Eisenstein 1979 p. will not be governed by way of oppression” (Hartlib 1641 p. rather than relying on what authorities told them” (Briggs and Burke p. by increasing literacy. Texts began to be written and translated in the vernacular and “by the sixteenth century… translators were employed to turn out vernacular versions of the more popular works by ancient Romans” (Eisenstein 1979 p. print communication allowed people of all classes to access and appreciate text and move beyond authoritarianism.141). acted to decrease the disparity between the educated upper class and the oppressed lower classes of early modern Europe. This presented a challenge to governments and churchmen as for them “the basic problem was that print allowed readers who had a low position in the social and cultural hierarchy to study religious texts for themselves. “Printing broke the class monopoly of the written word and it provided the common man with a means of gaining access to the culture of the world” (Mumford 2006 p.94). Thus it is clear that print communication generated the capacity to teach the masses to read and also caused literacy to be necessary skill for participation in society. due to its ability to accelerate the dissemination of knowledge and lower the costs associated. In the same way Samuel Hartlib stated. allowing ordinary people unprecedented access. In early modern Europe “the church which controlled most centres of book production and the recruitment and training of copyists” (Eisenstein 1993p.15). further demonstrating the growth of literacy and widespread reading in early modern Europe.122). In the same way the printing press. This access to texts and subsequent questioning of authority is perhaps the most important social effect of the adoption of print communication in early modern Europe as knowledge and manuscripts were dominated by very few sources. guarded knowledge and most people relied upon the church for dissemination of information. He circulated a torrent of writing and pamphlets criticizing the church’s indulgences and other obvious abuses and misinformation in an effort to reform religion.2).73-4). particularly religious text. For example Martin Luther utilized the printing press to launch one of the greatest acts of dissidence against the church known as the ‘Reformation’ in the sixteenth century. The social and cultural changes to Indigenous society that occurred at the time of colonisation as a result of print communication parallel that of the European experience. Comparable to early Modern European culture.62). Luther’s use of print communication insured that his theses and writing were spread rapidly to a wide audience. Further undermining the church’s authority and its dominance of the print medium Luther “encouraged the reading of the bible in the vernacular this involved new translations…so that everyone had direct access to god without the need for clerical mediation” (Briggs and Burke p. However this was to change with adoption of print communication as “the critique of authority was encouraged by print. which made two incompatible of the same subject widely available” (Briggs and Burke p. This illustrates the social restructuring and the immediate lower position oral Aboriginal culture experienced at the introduction of European written cultural discourse. Aboriginal culture experienced massive changes as a result of the shift from oral to written culture.3). Furthermore Antone (2005) states that colonization brought with it “‘a reverence for the written word as the most valid representation of fact’ and therefore the ways of the Aboriginal people were negated and dismissed as invalid” (Antone 2005 p. with European settlers was quite problematic for oral Aboriginal culture.knowledge was in the hands of a tiny fraction of the population” (Burke and Ornstein 2006 p. Goody (1986) asserts that the introduction of writing into oral cultures such as the Australian Aboriginal culture creates a new division of literates and nonliterates with the latter occupying lower positions.18). “Traditional Aboriginal culture was an oral culture with no written language and printed materials…” (Rose 1996 p.63) having a profound impact on the society and culture of early Modern Europe. Thus . Thus it can be seen that “the invention of printing undermined what as been described as…the information monopoly of the medieval Church” (Briggs and Burke 2005 p. He argues that print communication “have ‘governed the form and the language of the discourse’ where they have intervened” (cited in Avison and Meadows 2000 p.xxi) and so the arrival of print culture. 29). Furthermore European settlers utilised print communication such as the early news publications to proliferate the need and duty of colonisers to civilise the so-called inferior native savages. In the same way Aboriginal reserve managers moderated Aboriginal print material and allowed only Christian matter to be circulated in the first Aboriginal news publications such as the Flinders . some of them trained as linguists” that were able to “provide Aboriginal people with biblical material in local languages” (Rose 1996 p. It was widely believed that “a desire to read the bible would lead the Aborigines to seek to learn and write and adopt Christian virtues” (Norris 2006 p. Similarly Commissioner Bigge stated that “in teaching.80). It is clear that in the period of colonisation European settlers viewed the reading and writing of printed Christian materials such as the bible as a key way in which Aboriginal people could be ‘civilised’ and assimilated into EuropeanAustralian culture. this becoming the basis of Christianization and assimilation of Aboriginal people at the time of colonization. At the time of colonisation European settlers aimed to civilise the local Aboriginal people with Reverend Cowper stating in 1838 “the British colony ought not to be satisfied with anything less than making them Christians and elevating them to that scale in human society for which they may be fitted by instruction and civilisation” (cited in Woolmington 1973 p. reading and writing the principles of Christian religion it showed Aborigines… the means of improving their condition” (cited in Woolmington 1973 p. For example “the Sydney Gazette wrote in 1825: ‘if we therefore now hasten to their destruction or neglect to promote their salvation.the “superior” European written culture soon dominated and the oral culture of Aboriginal Australia was seen as inferior. It was through the use of print communication that European colonisers accomplished this process of Christianisation and therefore civilisation of Aboriginal people at the time of colonisation in Australia. shall we be innocent or without blame’” (Norris 2006 p. Thus it can be seen that European settlers used print communication to propagate European ideas and the need for civilisation of Aboriginal people by Christianisation. having a major impact on Aboriginal culture.xxvii). As in early modern Europe Christian religion played a key role in dominating print communication at the time of colonisation in Australia. This was partially achieved by “the work of missionaries.27).127). “Mudrooroo records the use as early as 1882 of a petition by residents of the Aboriginal station at Coranderrk Victoria to protest about their living conditions” (Rose 1996 p. The same can be said of the impact of print communication in Aboriginal Australia at the time of colonisation with massive social and cultural changes occurring as a result. 2). The Flinders Island Chronicle “had as its mission the promotion of ‘Christianity. Again this notion of Christian values providing the impetus for the ‘civilising’ and ‘whitening’ of Aboriginal people by European settlers is obvious even in supposed Aboriginal print media.82).18). Printing has created many social and cultural transformations in both European and colonial Aboriginal society as well as revolutionizing text and learning. We had a different Europe” (Postman 1993 p. It is clear that print communication has had a massive influence throughout history since its inception in 1450 spanning from early Modern Europe. However Aboriginal people managed to overcome the cultural barriers printing created and utilized print communication to their advantage in colonization as a form of dissent. it is argued that “after the printing press was invented we did not have old Europe plus the printing press. Similarly Anderson (2003) cites a petition formulated by Tasmanian Aboriginals which was presented to Queen Victoria's Secretary to the Colonies in 1847 as one of the earliest forms of Aboriginal protest via print communication. . As such it is no surprise that printing is often credited as marking the “transition between the end of the Middle Ages and the dawn of the modern era” (Crowley & Heyer 2006 p. to colonial Australia and beyond. protesting their mistreatment via the European written culture. civilisation and learning amongst the Aboriginal inhabitants” and “was handed to…the superintendent of Flinders Island for correction before publishing” (Grossman 2006 p. He states that such examples of Aboriginal petitions illustrate that “the written text has been employed by Indigenous Australians as a mode of political and cultural self-representation from quite early in colonial history” (Anderson 2003 p. From these examples it is clear the print communication brought about social changes for Aboriginal culture as in the time of colonisation expression and dissent was facilitated through embracing print communication.xxviii).Island Chronicle in 1836.18). eds. Crowley & P. E. ‘The rise of the reading public. in D. The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe. Boston. 3 Bacon.First Thoughts 30th Anniversary Conference.). Polity Press. 2005. L. Melbourne University Press. Culture. Communication in History: Technology. 2006. 5-6 May 2005. no. PhD thesis. Griffith University. ‘When they write what we read: Unsettling Indigenous Australian life-writing’. Antone. R. Society.pdf> Avison. Communication in History: Technology. Eisenstein. E. Society. M. 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