UNIT – I

Evolution of Communication – Oral Traditions – Cave Paintings – Petroglyphs – Pictograms

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Ideograms- Written communication

UNIT – II

Invention of the Printing Press – Evolution of newspapers- penny press – Press in India:
Newspapers in Bengal, Bombay and Madras. PRB act and Vernacular Press Act – Press
during Independence Movement- Press in post-independence India

UNIT – I

Evolution of Communication – Oral Traditions – Cave Paintings – Petroglyphs – Pictograms

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Ideograms- Written communication

Evolution of Communication

Communication refers to the exchange of messages through some channel and in some
medium. Communication theorists usually classify communication into modes, that is,
different ways of exchanging messages: for example, gestural (hand-based
communication); vocal (voice-based communication); visual (picture-based
communication); signaling (bodily based communication); and so on. When pluralized
(communications), the term refers to media systems or technologies of communication.

How did Human Communication evolve?

Communication can range from very subtle processes of exchange, to full conversations
and mass communication. Human communication was revolutionized with the origin of
speech. Symbols were developed about 30,000 years ago. The imperfection of speech,
which nonetheless allowed easier dissemination of ideas and eventually resulted in the
creation of new forms of communications, improving both the range at which people
could communicate and the longevity of the information. All of those inventions were
based on the key concept of the symbol.

The oldest known symbols created for the purpose of communication were cave
paintings, a form of rock art, dating to the Upper Paleolithic age. The oldest known cave
painting is located within Chauvet Cave, France. These paintings contained increasing
amounts of information. The connection between drawing and writing is further shown by
linguistics; in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece the concepts and words of drawing and
writing were one and the same.

The most significant step was the evolution of human speech. The origin of speech refers
to the origin of language in the context of the physiological development of the human
speech organs such as the tongue, lips and vocal organs used to produce phonological
units in all human languages. Primates, that is the group of animals including monkeys,
apes and humans, have evolved specialized mechanisms for producing sound for
purposes of social communication. On the other hand, no monkey or ape uses its tongue,
lips and other movable (vocal) parts for speech the way humans do, making its
evolutionary emergence an intriguing topic in the eyes of many scholars. Speaking is the
default modality for language in all cultures. Humans' first recourse is to encode thoughts
in sound — a method which depends on sophisticated capacities for controlling the lips,
tongue and other components of the vocal apparatus.

Little is known about the timing of language's emergence in the human species. Unlike
writing, speech leaves no material trace, making it archaeologically invisible. Lacking
direct linguistic evidence, specialists in human origins have resorted to the study of
anatomical features and genes arguably associated with speech production.

Oral Traditions

Oral tradition, also called orality, the first and still most widespread mode of human
communication. Far more than “just talking,” oral tradition refers to a dynamic and highly
diverse oral-aural medium for evolving, storing, and transmitting knowledge, art, and
ideas. It is typically contrasted with literacy, with which it can and does interact in myriad
ways, and also with literature, which it dwarfs in size, diversity, and social function.

For millennia prior to the invention of writing, which is a very recent phenomenon in the
history of humankind, oral tradition served as the sole means of communication available
for forming and maintaining societies and their institutions. Moreover, numerous studies
—conducted on six continents—have illustrated that oral tradition remains the dominant
mode of communication in the 21st century, despite increasing rates of literacy. An oral
tradition is the vehicle by which information is passed from one generation to the next in
the absence of writing or a recording medium. In the days before near-universal literacy,
bards would sing or chant their people's stories. They employed various (mnemonic)
techniques to aid in their own memory and to help their listeners keep track of the story.
This oral tradition was a way to keep the history or culture of the people alive, and since
it was a form of story-telling, it was a popular entertainment.

Contemporary understanding of oral tradition depends not on documents—which are at

best written reflections of oral traditions—but on experience gained through firsthand
study of societies that depend upon oral tradition as a major means of communication.
Anthropologists, folklorists, and other ethnographers have worked directly with such
societies to learn how this textless communication operates. Their research has offered
insight into oral traditions from the ancient, medieval, and pre-modern worlds.

Notwithstanding their tremendous diversity, oral traditions share certain characteristics

across time and space. Most notably, they are rule-governed. They use special languages
and performance arenas while employing flexible patterns and structures that aid
composition, retention, and performance. In addition, they assume an active role for the
audience and fulfill a clear and important function for the societies that maintain them.
Oral traditions also embody an expressive power that derives from their ability to respond
to different performance settings and circumstances.

Oral cultures are cultures in which information and traditions are passed on from one
generation to the next by storytellers. The forms of oral culture include poetry, folktales,
and proverbs as well as magical spells, religious incantations, and stories of the past. The
prevalence of radio, television, and newspapers in Western culture has led to the decline
of oral traditions, though some survive, especially during childhood, when rhymes,
stories, and songs are recounted orally.

Oral tradition represents a vital and multifunctional means of verbal communication that
supports diverse activities in diverse cultures. As humankind’s first and still most
ubiquitous mode of communication, it bears a striking resemblance to one of the newest
communication technologies, the Internet. Both the Internet and oral tradition operate via
navigation through webs of options; both depend upon multiple, distributed authorship;
both work through rule-governed processes rather than fossilized texts; and both
ultimately derive their strength from their ability to change and adapt.

Cave Paintings

Painting dates back to prehistoric images found on the walls of caves, such as those at
Lascaux in France. Early societies controlled the subject matter of painting and
determined its function (ritualistic, devotional, decorative). Cave paintings are a type of
art (which also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of
caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin, but cave paintings can also be of
recent production: in the Gabarnmung cave of northern Australia, the oldest paintings are
from a time 28,000 years ago, while the most recent ones were made less than a century
ago. The oldest known cave paintings are over 40,000 years old, found in western
Europe, and in Indonesia.

The oldest type of cave paintings are hand stencils and simple geometric shapes; the
oldest undisputed examples of figurative cave paintings are somewhat younger, close to
35,000 years old. A 2018 study claimed an age of 64,000 years for the oldest examples of
(non-figurative) cave art in Maltravieso Cave, Cáceres, Spain, which would imply
production by Neanderthals rather than modern humans. In November 2018, scientists
reported the discovery of the oldest known figurative art painting, over 40,000 (perhaps
as old as 52,000) years old, of an unknown animal, in the cave of Lubang Jeriji Saléh on
the Indonesian island of Borneo.

The earliest known European figurative cave paintings are those of Chauvet Cave in
France, containing some of the best-preserved figurative cave paintings in the world, as
well as other evidence of Upper Paleolithic life. Discovered on December 18, 1994, it is
considered one of the most significant prehistoric art sites and the UN’s cultural agency
UNESCO granted it World Heritage status on June 22, 2014. Lubang Jeriji Saléh is a
limestone cave located in Borneo, Indonesian, believed to contain the oldest figurative art
in the world. The oldest of these paintings, created over 40,000 (perhaps as old as
52,000) years ago, is believed to be of a banteng (a type of cattle) bull.

In Australia, cave paintings have been found on the Arnhem Land, showing large fauna,
which are thought to have been extinct for over 40,000 years, making this site another
candidate for oldest known painting; however, the proposed age is dependent on the
estimate of the extinction of the species seemingly depicted. Another Australian site,
Nawarla Gabarnmang, has charcoal drawings that have been radiocarbon-dated to
28,000 years, making it the oldest site in Australia and among the oldest in the world for
which reliable date evidence has been obtained.

The most common subjects in cave paintings are large wild animals, such as bison,
horses, aurochs (wild cattle), and deer, and tracings of human hands as well as abstract
patterns. The species found most often were suitable for hunting by humans. Drawings of
humans are rare and usually schematic as opposed to the more detailed and naturalistic
images of animal subjects. Pigments used for cave paintings include red and yellow
ochre, hematite, manganese oxide and charcoal.

Cave Paintings of India

The Bhimbetka rock shelters exhibit the earliest traces of human life in India. Paintings in
Bhimbetka are dated to about 8,000 BCE. Similar paintings are found in other parts of
India as well. In Tamil Nadu, ancient cave paintings are found in Kombaikadu, Kilvalai,
Settavarai and Nehanurpatti. In Odisha, they are found in Yogimatha and Gudahandi. In
Karnataka, these paintings are found in Hiregudda near Badami. Executed mainly in red
and white, the paintings depict the lives and times of the people who lived in the caves,
including scenes of childbirth, communal dancing and drinking, religious rites and burials,
as well as indigenous animals.

The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site in central India that spans the
prehistoric Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, as well as the historic period. It exhibits the
earliest traces of human life on the Indian subcontinent. It is located in the Raisen District
in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh about 45 kilometers southeast of Bhopal. It is a
UNESCO world heritage site that consists of seven hills and has over 750 rock shelters
distributed over 10 kilometers. At least some of the shelters were inhabited more than
100,000 years ago. The rock shelters and caves provide a rare glimpse into human
settlement and cultural evolution from hunter-gatherers, to agriculture, as well as
expressions of spirituality. The earliest are about 30,000 years old. These cave paintings
show animals, early evidence of dance and hunting.

Petroglyphs : Something carved, picked or chipped into stone.

Some petroglyphs might be as old as 40,000 years, and petroglyph sites in Australia are
estimated to date back 27,000 years. Many petroglyphs are dated to approximately the
Neolithic and late Upper Paleolithic boundary, about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, if not
earlier, such as Kamyana Mohyla. Around 7,000 to 9,000 years ago, other precursors
of writing systems, such as pictographs and ideograms, began to appear.

Petroglyphs were still common though, and some cultures continued using them much
longer, even until contact with Western culture was made in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Petroglyphs have been found in all parts of the globe except Antarctica, with highest
concentrations in parts of Africa, Scandinavia, Siberia, southwestern North America, and
Australia.

A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking,

carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use
terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to
such images. Petroglyphs are found worldwide, and are often associated
with prehistoric peoples.
The word comes from the Greek prefix petro-, from πέτρα petra meaning "stone",
and γλύφω glýphō meaning "to carve", and was originally coined in French as pétroglyphe.

Pictograms: -

A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in

computer usage an icon, is an ideogram that conveys its meaning through its pictorial
resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and graphic
systems in which the characters are to a considerable extent pictorial in appearance. A
pictogram may also be used in subjects such as leisure, tourism, and geography.
Pictography is a form of writing which uses representational, pictorial drawings, similarly
to cuneiform and, to some extent, hieroglyphic writing, which also uses drawings as
phonetic letters or determinative rhymes. Some pictograms, such as Hazards pictograms,
are elements of formal languages.
Pictograph has a rather different meaning in the field of prehistoric art, including recent
art by traditional societies and then means art painted on rock surfaces, as opposed
to petroglyphs; the latter are carved or incised. Such images may or may not be
considered pictograms in the general sense.
Early written symbols were based on pictographs (pictures which resemble what they
signify) and ideograms (symbols which represent ideas). Ancient Sumerian, Egyptian, and
Chinese civilizations began to adapt such symbols to represent concepts, developing
them into logographic writing systems.
Pictographs are still in use as the main medium of written communication in some non-
literate cultures in Africa, the Americas, and Oceania. Pictographs are often used as
simple, pictorial, representational symbols by most contemporary cultures.

Ideograms: - A character symbolizing the idea of a thing without indicating the sounds
used to say it. Examples include numerals and Chinese characters.
An ideogram or ideograph (from Greek ἰδέα idéa "idea" and γράφω gráphō "to write") is
a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept, independent of any particular
language, and specific words or phrases. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by
familiarity with prior convention; others convey their meaning through pictorial
resemblance to a physical object, and thus may also be referred to as pictograms.

The term "ideogram" is often used to describe symbols of writing systems such

as Egyptian hieroglyphs, Sumerian cuneiform and Chinese characters. However, these
symbols are logograms, representing words or morphemes of a particular language
rather than objects or concepts. In these writing systems, a variety of strategies were
employed in the design of logographic symbols. Pictographic symbols depict the object
referred to by the word.

Written Communication:-

One of the best methods to communicate Writing is one of the oldest known forms of
communication In today’s age of information and technology, writing has become a lost
art.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

The writing process first evolved from economic necessity in the ancient near
east. Archaeologist Denise Schmandt- Besserat determined the link between
previously uncategorized clay "tokens" and the first known writing, cuneiform(is
one of the earliest known forms of written expression, used in Persia and Assyria
around the 30th century BC).Clay tokens were replaced over time by the written
documents to avoid the complexity of using the clay token.

Writing is an extension of human language across time and space. Writing most
likely began as a consequence of political expansion in ancient cultures, which
needed reliable means for transmitting information, maintaining financial
accounts, keeping historical records, and similar activities.
Around the 4th millennium BC, the complexity of trade and administration
outgrew the power of memory, and writing became a more dependable method of
recording and presenting transactions in a permanent form.

Researchers divide the progression of written communication into three

revolutionary stages called "Information Communication Revolutions "During the
first stage, written communication first emerged through the use of pictograms.
The pictograms were made in stone, hence written communication was not yet
mobile. During the second stage, writing began to appear on paper, papyrus, clay,
wax, etc.

Common alphabets were introduced and allowed for the uniformity of language
across large distances. A leap in technology occurred when the Gutenberg
printing-press was invented in the 15th century. The third stage is characterized
by the transfer of information through controlled waves and electronic signals.