Page 52 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

From the Popular to the People 27

He decided to publish in 1578 a corrected catalogue of all ‘popular
mistakes’ regarding health. He explained how these mistakes are due
to a weakness of the soul and human intelligence, ignorance of oral
tradition among midwives in particular, and the conceitedness of those
who heard a lot about medicine without understanding much of it. But
as in the case of peasant culture, the mistakes of which were revealed
to educated literati by printed material, it is similarly the circulation
in a print form of ordinary diets, traditional secrets and remedies of all
sorts which seemed to have inspired Joubert to realize the concept of
popular mistakes as well as brought them to his notice for correction.
This exemplifies the deeply paradoxical consequences of printing for
the people. On the one hand, it can break the traditional monopolies
of knowledge and authority, widely circulate and sell information or
works of imagination. It can even establish a new reciprocity in the
relation between the author and his anonymous audience. But it also
facilitates the setting of new modes of control of popular thoughts.
‘How could your servant obey your order and comprehend what you
say in an unknown language?’ Vulgarizers did not intend to erase the
distinction of the ignorant and the knowledgeable, nor to depreciate
the medical vocation. They wanted, on the one hand, draw out of
their detrimental routine illiterate surgeons—empirical practitioners
deprived of science—and, on the other hand, keep them under the
control of knowledgeable doctors. They intended to educate people to
take better care of their health while concretely persuading them to
follow the prescriptions of the doctor to this effect.
In short, these were the first consequences in France of the intro-
duction of printing technique in cities. The cultural life of the com-
mon urban people was strengthened: the realism and wealth of their
dreams were enhanced; their self-consciousness increased as well as
their capacity to be critical of others and of themselves. City people
were not passive receivers or beneficiaries, nor passive victims of the
new means of communication. They proved to be active users, even
interpreters, of books read or heard, sometimes even intervening in
their production. When the book reached them, popular and working
classes imposed their way of using it. People’s oral culture and social
organization were strong enough to resist changes and norms brought
from the top. Some aspects of Protestantism and Humanism jointly
with printing did contribute to shaking the existing hierarchical orders