| Through a case study of the history of printing in China during the Sung Dynasty (960-1279), this dissertation explores the use and development of a communication technology and the social factors that influenced it. In imperial China, monopoly of knowledge production was a consistent state policy of ideological control over book production. When woodblock printing became widespread and movable type was invented in the Sung Dynasty, state control was strong enough to ensure that these technologies became new ways to produce standardized texts and, as a result, ways to extend state control over the dissemination of ideas in Chinese society. Even though favorable social conditions were in place for the development of printing in the Sung, such as the establishment of a civil society and the civil service examination system, urbanization, commercialization, and the growth of popular culture, the new civil environment did not change any of the fundamental political dynamics surrounding printing. Furthermore, Chinese printed texts had strong oral residues, which encouraged a "restricted literacy" among the general public; this "restricted literacy" was oriented to memorization and reading aloud and neglectful of logical thinking. By a comparison with Europe at the time when printing was first introduced, this study argues that technological change may not necessarily bring social change. On the contrary, because the use of technology is subject to social dynamics and human agency, it can just as easily consolidate tradition as bring about change. |
