Date: Thu, 24 Apr 1997 16:38:37 -0500
From: Patricia Galloway <galloway@mdah.state.ms.us>
Subject: Did Print Confirm Traditional Views?
Print did confirm traditional views when the traditional views
emanated from what were perceived as authoritative institutions and
individuals--hence the elaborate citations of authority, dedications,
etc. adorning early printed books, even (perhaps especially) when
those books were fiction disguised as history. Print made the views
more available, but the institutions made them believed. IMHO there is
a dialogic relation between institutions and the communicative media
they employ, which is sometimes useful, sometimes nugatory, sometimes
harmful to the institutions and the views they promote.
Pat Galloway
Mississippi Department of Archives and History