What’s the point of a sentence?
What’s the point of a sentence?
The passage below is from The Library: A Fragile History by Andrew Pettegree
Print also represented a decisive fork in the road in one other respect, for the vibrant manuscript cultures of Africa, the Middle East and East Asia did not follow Europe in embracing the mass production of print. The Ottoman Empire largely eschewed print altogether. The unhappy Venetian who presented to the Sublime Porte the first printed copy of the Qur’an was condemned for blasphemy. China, despite remarkable early experiments with woodblock printing, did not embrace metal type, for principally technical reasons. These cultures generally stayed loyal to woodblock or manuscript bookmaking, though not before they had shared with the West one further remarkable gift: paper. Made from cloth rags, paper was a far cheaper medium than parchment, and exquisitely well suited for partnership with the printing press. But without the multiplying capacities of print, book collecting outside of Europe and European colonies remained largely an elite privilege. For the next three centuries the vast proliferation of libraries, public and private, serving ever-expanding circles of readership, remained predominantly a phenomenon of Europe and its global diaspora.
I have a question on the underlined sentence.
I think I have no problem with the literal meaning of it, but I cannot figure out the purpose of the sentence in this passage.
Let me explain my understanding about it, first.
The sentence is composed of two ideas.
One, Africa, the Middle East and Chinese stuck to woodblock or manuscript bookmaking.
Two, they shared paper with the West.
And two ideas are connected with ‘though not before’.
So literally the sentence seems to say that these three cultures stuck to woodblock or manuscript bookmaking but hadn’t stuck to it before they had shared paper with the West.
(Am I right?)
But I cannot grasp what’s the point of this sentence. What purpose does this sentence serve? What does the author try to say to the reader with it?
Thanks in advance.
Top answer
) "Not before X" is a common expression. The writer has used it poorly, though. " In other words, although the manuscript cultures of Africa, the Middle East and East Asia practically severed communication on the matter, jealously cleaving to their cherished traditions, while they were still sharing technology, we got paper from them.
- ) "Not before X" is a common expression.
- The writer has used it poorly, though.
- " In other words, although the manuscript cultures of Africa, the Middle East and East Asia practically severed communication on the matter, jealously cleaving to their cherished traditions, while they were still sharing technology, we got paper from them.
- Whether that situation is historically accurate, I don't know.
- I suspect that the writer was just trying to inject a little drama.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
Stenka25So literally the sentence seems to say that these three cultures stuck to woodblock or manuscript bookmaking but hadn’t stuck to it before they had shared paper with the West.(Am I right?)
"Not before X" is a common expression. The writer has used it poorly, though. He wrote "These cultures generally stayed loyal to woodblock or manuscript bookmakin
0
Related Questions