History of communication

Transcription

1 History of communication Prehistoric era: beginnings of human language BC: beginnings of writing 15 th century: printing 19 th century: telephone, radio broadcasting, photography, cinema 20 th century: television broadcasting, computing, networking, Internet, mobile communication 19 th / 20 th century major sociological changes (spread of urbanisation & public use of technological inventions)

2 Writing / script 3600 BC Script / Writing in Indo-European world. 3 steps in emergence of script: Synthetic Elementary stage where sign or group of signs are used to convey whole sentence (stylised form). E.g. woman = Analytical Sentence can be broken down in words. Each sign = a word Phonetic Moved from representation of words to that of sounds. First phonetic scripts sumero-akkadian (Mesopotamia). Chinese script traced back to 5 th century B.C. (under Yin dynasty). Only civilisation where writing was given by emperors (for others gift of God or Gods).

3 Roman & Gothic alphabets Roman Alphabet : 1 st alphabet traced back to Phoenicia. (Syria-Lebanon) 22 letters with consonants only recuperated by Greek who invented vowels & composed existing alphabet. (17 consonants & 7 vowels). then, invented capital letters (for manuscripts & monuments) vs. lowercase letters (more popular). Gothic alphabet: Russian script & Cyrillic alphabet invented by St Cyril to spread Bible.

4

5 Cyrillic alphabet

6 History of books (from manuscripts to prints) BC: 1 st novel in ancient Sumeria in cuneiform script on 12 tablets is Gilgamesh Epic tells story of King of Uruk (major flood evoked) The Book of the Dead, written in Egypt ca 1400 BC (on papyrus) 540 BC: first public libraries in Greece (manuscripts) 47 BC: Roman occupation of Alexandria under Caesar's reign. 500,000 book scrolls were destroyed.

7 History of Printing 868 AD: First book published using woodblocks by Chinese Wang Chien ca 1040 Invention of movable type (China) Middle Ages --> illuminated scripts by clergy who monopolised knowledge 1456: Gutenberg invents movable type in Germany and prints the Bible. 16 th and 17 th century print industry develops (Venice, Amsterdam) Lutheran reform

8 Effects of print Elizabeth Eisenstein (1979) 2 long term effects: 1. print standardised and preserved knowledge which had been more fluid in the age of oral or manuscript circulation. 1. the critique of authority was encouraged by print, which made incompatible views of the same subject more widely available. (source: Asa Briggs, A Social History of the Media)

9 Effects of print Books The invention of printing enabled the rise of first form of mass communication media books 15 th century = 250 printing locations in Europe Despite low literacy level (4-5%) profound effect on awareness + undermined knowledge monopoly allowed for Lutheran reformation = Religious authority undermined

10 Book Publishing Industry USA: around 120,000 titles published in 2002 (6 conglomerate publishers, 3,400 medium-sized, 86,000 small/self publishers) 5 large NY publishers US sales: $4.2b + worldwide $5.7b Mauritius: EOI, ELP, Bartholdi

11 MRU: 7% of population read regularly 150 professionals ELP Rs. 100 million yearly EOI parastatal EOI+ELP Rs180m Rest Rs70m School textbooks (60% over only 3 months)+ leisure Source: L express 5 nov 2005

12 Effects of print Newspapers Rise of newspapers in 17 th century) banking sector emerges financial information gives birth to first papers end 17 th beginning 18 th trade emerges + bourgeoisie = industrial revolution 2 types of bourgeoisies (traders & industry investors) Though interests diverge, common interest of influencing royal power & democratizing power birth of public space with 3 entities (State, Press, Public consisting of 2 bourgeoisies) =Royal authority undermined

13 Newspapers 1740 autonomy of press becomes a commercial venture with aim of attracting more readers (Times) Political power democratization royal power no longer divine State must defend its positions vis-à-vis people (Public entity becomes more inclusive) Press = channel for State to publicise its actions & watchdog over State questions its actions (cf Watergate) Enlightenment (Siècle des Lumières) individual is rational can assess according to personal interest & general interest + literacy levels on the rise

14 Newspapers UK London Gazette (1665 ) France La Gazette de France (1631), Théophraste Renaudot Beginning 19 th century Emile de Girardin concept of press funded by ads USA Boston News-Letter(1704) 1833 Benjamin Day creates The Sun 1919 tabloid papers half format popular & sensationalist content low priced 1950 offset printing 1965 computer type setting

15 Mauritian press 13 th January 1773 Annonces, Affiches et Avis Divers pour les colonies des îles de France et de Bourbon published by Nicholas Lambert (an official economic journal) 1832 Le Cernéen (Adrien d Epinay) & La Balance independent free press

16 1907 Le Mauricien 1963 L express Mauritian press 1895 Chinese Gazette 1909 Hindustani by Manilall Doctor papers in Hindi 1954 Mauritius Times in English 1970 s press was controlled tightly govt censorship after racial/ethnic tensions white space published in protest