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Use of Theses Australian National University THESES SIS/LIBRARY TELEPHONE: +61 2 6125 4631 R.G. MENZIES LIBRARY BUILDING NO:2 FACSIMILE: +61 2 6125 4063 THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY EMAIL: [email protected] CANBERRA ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA USE OF THESES This copy is supplied for purposes of private study and research only. Passages from the thesis may not be copied or closely paraphrased without the written consent of the author. INDIA IN THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS 1 8 5 7 - 1 9 0 6 by Deborah J. Jessop A thesis presented for the degree of Master of Arts (Asian Studies) at the Australian National University 1986 This thesis is the result of my original research as a scholar in the Asian History Centre, Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T., Australia. Deborah J. Jessop TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Page 1 Chapter I Sources of Information 8 Chapter II Pictorial Presentations 22 Chapter III Travel 39 Chapter IV Religion 62 Chapter V Government 93 Chapter VI Military Control 114 Chapter VII Development and Technology 151 Conclusion 178 Bibliography 184 1 INTRODUCTION Victorian newspapers and periodicals were so important, a contemporary writer declared that journals moulded Englishmen's views "to a far greater extent than they are by those of any personal friend or even any leading statesman." 1 One scholar asserts, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that Victorian journalism was the peculiar means through which the life of this complex period was recorded and through which the whole range of its issues was debated."^ Unfortunately there has been no scholarly study of the presentation of India based on such British sources. We have selected the Illustrated London News for our study because it was the first popular periodical in the world whose appeal depended primarily on pictures and it was Britain"s first regularly illustrated weekly to direct itself to family reading. The Illustrated London News promised to give its readers news of the world at a time when international coverage was influenced and moulded by social and technological changes in Britain. It promised "to keep continually before the eye of the world a living and moving panorama of all its actions and influences:"^ Is there peace? then shall its arts, implements, and manufactures be spread upon our page. The literature - the customs - the dress - nay, the institutions and localities of other lands, shall be brought home to you with spirit, with fidelity, and we hope, with discretion and taste. Is there war? then shall its seats and actions be laid naked before the eye. No estafette - no telegraphy - no steam-winged vessel - no overland mail shall bring intelligence to our shores that shall not be in the columns of this journal.^ % lj. Boyd Kinnear, "Annonymous Journalism," Contemporary Review, 5, 1867, p.324. ^Michael Wolff, "Why RSVP?," Victorian Periodical Newsletter, 8 April 1970, p.4. 3Illustrated 14 May 1842 p.l. References to the Illustrated London News in footnotes will be prefaced by Illustrated and followed by the date and page number. 4Illustrated 14 May 1842 p.l. 2 The Journal's stress on illustration was innovative and timely, and coincided with the development of photography. Changes in wood engraving and photo-chemical reproduction affected its graphics as it incorporated photographs into its illustrations. In addition to their use in the Journal, illustrations were worked up as separate oil paintings or watercolours and exhibited, published in books, pirated by other periodicals and used in lecture tours. Their exposure and influence extended beyond the Illustrated’s pages. The Illustrated London News was widely imitated and by 1892 both an American edition and an Australian edition were printed.5 The Illustrated London News has been printed as a weekly since its beginning in 1842. In 1879 its art editor commented that it "will prove of the highest value and interest to the future historian,"6 and it continues to be mined for its engravings by students of the Victorian period who are often unaware of the pictures' origins or contemporary use. It is probably one of the best preserved popular periodicals of the Victorian period. Despite its cultural importance, the Illustrated London News has received little academic attention. Whether because it is a pictorial periodical or because it occupied a position between the daily press and the Sunday papers,7 there are no scholarly studies of the history of this journal.^ Unfortunately its offices were bombed during World War II and all editorial notes and original drawings were destroyed. In addition to the lack of studies about the Illustrated London News, few works discuss visual sources about India during the nineteenth century, even though it was a period when visual documentation gained prominence. ^Paul Hogarth, The Artist as Reporter, London: Studio Vista, 1967, p.15. 6Illustrated 23 August 1879 p. 158. ^Raymond Williams, The Long Revolution, London: Chatto & Windus, Ltd., 1961, p. 193. ^We know of one unpublished PhD thesis which describes its first decade: Ann Hofstra Grogg, "The Illustrated London News 1842-1852," Indiana University, PhD thesis, 1977 3 This study examines the presentation of India in the Journal between 1857 and 1906. It analyses some of the popular images of India, discusses its goals for coverage of India, and suggests ways in which the focus reflected British interests of the time. The period between 1857 and 1906 has been chosen both for its historical importance in British-Indian relations and for its significance in pictorial journalism. The period between the 1857 Mutiny and Curzon's viceroyalty witnessed growing separation and misunderstanding between Anglo-Indians9 and Indians, while newspapers in Britain imagined that they were bringing the Empire closer through coverage of events in India. It was a period of Indian nationalism and growing resentment toward British administration; a time when Britain directed its energies to a wide variety of interests and issues concerning India. The period is also significant in the history of pictorial journalism. It represents the high point of black and white illustrations since after 1906, colour reproduction began to dominate. After the period, press agencies became stronger and the role of the special correspondent diminished. By the turn of the century, half-tone reproduction became standard and the snapshot was used for news photographs.10 This study is important in part because it reveals a valuable source and focuses on unexamined visual material. We hope also to provide an understanding of some of the patterns established in the past century which formed the basis for current communications and news coverage. 1 * Edward W. Said acknowledges the importance of news reporting by quoting a journalist at the beginning of Orientalism and he continues, "So far as the Orient is concerned, standardization and cultural stereotyping have intensified the hold of the nineteenth century academic and imaginative 9ln this study "Anglo-Indian" refers to an English man or woman resident in India. ^Estelle Jussim, Visual Communication and the Graphic Arts: Photographic Technologies in the Nineteenth Century, New York: R.R. Bowker Co., 1974. A.N.J. Den Hollander, "Countries Far Away - Cognition at a Distance," Comparative Studies in Society and History, 9(4), 1967, p.362-376 shows how today's classifications and judgements are based on past perceptions. 4 demonology of the 'mysterious Orient.’" 12 Our limited look at one nineteenth century source may contribute to an understanding of past perceptions and to the background of the news coverage of India. The rise of the popular press helped to establish a more uniform view of India. Research suggests that "the logical trained occidental person avoids or reduces information that creates cognitive dissonance," 1^ and that "man acts so as to restore equilibrium in his system of belief." 1^ Various theories show that homeostasis and equilibrium are essential communication needs,^ and it is generally agreed that the press plays an important role in this "assimilation" of material to familiar frames of reference." Our analysis of the Illustrated 's role in this process suggests that certain stereotypes of India were presented in its coverage. Our use of this term is guided by three factors: "its simplicity; its immediate recognisability (which makes its communicative role very important,) and its implicit reference to an assumed consensus about some attribute or complex social relationships. Stereotypes are in this respect prototypes of 'shared cultural meanings.'" 17 This need for homeostasis and the role of stereotypes may help to explain why particular features of India were conveyed to 1 ^Edward W. Said, Orientalism, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978, p.26. l^Den Hollander in Comparative Studies, p.370. l^R.A. Bauer, "The Obstinate Audience: The Influence Process from the Point of View of Social Communication," American Psychologist, 19, 1964, p.322. Bauer provides references for related research. l^Harvey Glickman, "Viewing Public Opinion in Politics: A Common Sense Approach," Public Opinion Quarterly, 23(4), 1959 p.502; Daniel Katz, "Psychological Barriers to Communication," Mass Communications, Wilbur Schramm (ed), Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1966, p.316-328; Ned Lebow, White Britain and Black Ireland, Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues, Inc., 1976 uses Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory for his study of the nineteenth century British view of Ireland. l^Katz in Mass Communications, p.318. l^T.E. Perkins, "Rethinking Stereotypes," Ideology and Cultural Production, Michele Barett et.al. (ed), London: Croom Helm, 1979, p. 141. 5 readers in spite of the Journal’s stress on accuracy, its use of new technology and the presence of correspondents in India. Our study is based on a page by page examination of the Illustrated London News for the fifty year period.
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