The Arabic Print Revolution: Cultural Production and Mass Readership [Paperback]

Ayalon explores the birth of Arab printing, publishing, dissemination methods, and mass readership during the formative phase from 1800 to 1914.Ayalon analyses how the advent of mass printing shaped the intellectual and cultural movements of the time, and how it encouraged the creation of new forms of literary heritage. This unique presentation is essential for students and scholars of Arab intellectual and literary history, especially the 'nahda'.Ayalon analyses how the advent of mass printing shaped the intellectual and cultural movements of the time, and how it encouraged the creation of new forms of literary heritage. This unique presentation is essential for students and scholars of Arab intellectual and literary history, especially the 'nahda'.In a brief historic moment, printing presses, publishing ventures, a periodical press, circulation networks, and a mass readership came into being all at once in the Middle East, where none had previously existed, with ramifications in every sphere of the community's life. Among other outcomes, this significant change facilitated the cultural and literary movement known as the Arab 'nahda' ('awakening'). Ayalon's book offers both students and scholars a critical inquiry into the formative phase of that shift in Arab societies. This comprehensive analysis explores the advent of printing and publishing; the formation of mass readership; and the creation of distribution channels, the vital and often overlooked nexus linking the former two processes. It considers questions of cultural and religious tradition, social norms and relations, and concepts of education, offering a unique presentation of the emerging print culture in the Middle East.Preface; Introduction: the problem of genesis; 1. The formative phase of Arab printing - a historical overview; 2. Printers and publishers; 3. Books, journals, cartes de visite; 4. Diffusion channels; 5. Advancing circulation; 6. Reading and readers; 7. Reading in public; Conclusion; Bibl8