'An indissoluble unity': considering the relationship between outward influences and the design of Birmingham's radical newspapers 1815-36

“牢不可破的团结”：考虑外部影响与伯明翰激进报纸设计之间的关系 1815-36

• 批准号: 2750267
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Birmingham City University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2750267
• 关键词: indissoluble; unity; considering; relationship; between

Birmingham is Britain's most historically important centre of printing outside London (Archer, 2016), yet its newspaper heritage is unappreciated and under-researched. With the 300th anniversary of Birmingham's first newspaper approaching, this study is a timely step towards understanding the historical significance of early newspaper print culture in the region.This research will explore radical newspapers through the lens of their design - typography, layout, illustration, format, paper - in order to determine how external factors affected their appearance and what their design can reveal about the political and social backgrounds in which they were published.It will build on what Aldous Huxley described as the 'indissoluble unity' between 'inward and outward, substance and form' (Huxley, 1928). Presentation affects perception, yet, despite its link with content, the visual elements of the radical newspaper are unexplored. Is it possible to determine a specific visual language in Birmingham's early nineteenth-century radical press, as has been identified in the twentieth-century underground press (Kaplan, 2013)? The importance of place and space to Birmingham's print culture has been established (Archer, 2020) - did the circumstances of the radical newspapers' creation alter their appearance in any way? Studies on radical print culture show shifts in format or content can be traced to changing economic and political conditions. For example, the government's campaign against the unstamped (Gilmartin, 1996) forced newspaper publishers to employ strategies to avoid taxation, prompting local radical George Edmonds to call his Weekly Recorder a pamphlet (Briggs, 1949). How did the clandestine nature of the radical titles translate into their design and production?While there are several studies on the history of radicalism in Birmingham (Thomas, 2021), references to radical newspapers are incidental. This study elaborates on previous research and links it directly to the region's print culture and the professional, social and political networks integral to Birmingham's newspapers.This interdisciplinary approach advances new methodologies for ascertaining key contextual information. It merges typographic analysis with traditional historical methods, historical bibliography, material culture studies and theories on place and space. Uniting these disciplines will create a matrix of information which will be interrogated in order to understand the relationship between the material sources (newspapers) and the immaterial world around them.The new methodological tool could be replicated by historians or current commentators when researching the connection between printed media and its external circumstances. The research will feed into discussions about the primacy of the London press and help to draw conclusions about the national importance of Birmingham's radical newspapers.Indicative timelineYears 1-2:BCU PGCert in Research Practice;contextual reading;evidence gathering in archives and libraries;develop methodology;refinement of research questions and source material;participation in CPHC events.Years 3-4:contextual reading;evidence gathering in archives and libraries;testing, refining and application of methodology;analysis of material and data;first draft chapters;organise conference on West Midlands Newspapers;participation CPHC events.Years 5-6:contextual reading;conclusions from research;final draft chapters;participation CPHC events.Year 7:Edit and proof-readPrepare thesis for printing and binding

伯明翰是英国历史上除伦敦以外最重要的印刷中心（Archer，2016），但其报纸遗产并未得到重视和研究。随着伯明翰第一份报纸问世 300 周年的临近，这项研究为了解该地区早期报纸印刷文化的历史意义迈出了及时的一步。这项研究将通过其设计（版式、布局、插图、格式、纸张）的视角来探索激进的报纸，以确定外部因素如何影响其外观，以及其设计可以揭示其出版时的政治和社会背景。它将建立在奥尔德斯·赫胥黎（Aldous Huxley）所描述的“ “内在与外在、实质与形式”之间的“不可分割的统一”（Huxley，1928）。呈现会影响感知，然而，尽管它与内容相关，激进报纸的视觉元素尚未被探索。是否有可能确定伯明翰十九世纪早期激进媒体中的特定视觉语言，就像二十世纪地下媒体中所确定的那样（Kaplan，2013）？地点和空间对伯明翰印刷文化的重要性已经确立（Archer，2020）——激进报纸的创作环境是否以任何方式改变了它们的外观？对激进印刷文化的研究表明，格式或内容的变化可以追溯到经济和政治条件的变化。例如，政府针对未盖章的运动（Gilmartin，1996）迫使报纸出版商采取策略避税，促使当地激进分子乔治·埃德蒙兹（George Edmonds）将他的《每周记录者》称为小册子（Briggs，1949）。激进标题的秘密性质如何转化为它们的设计和制作？虽然有几项关于伯明翰激进主义历史的研究（Thomas，2021），但对激进报纸的提及是偶然的。这项研究详细阐述了之前的研究，并将其直接与该地区的印刷文化以及伯明翰报纸不可或缺的专业、社会和政治网络联系起来。这种跨学科方法提出了确定关键背景信息的新方法。它将印刷分析与传统历史方法、历史书目、物质文化研究以及场所和空间理论相结合。结合这些学科将创建一个信息矩阵，对这些信息进行询问，以了解物质来源（报纸）与其周围的非物质世界之间的关系。历史学家或当前的评论家在研究印刷媒体与其外部环境之间的联系时可以复制新的方法论工具。该研究将纳入有关伦敦媒体首要地位的讨论，并有助于得出有关伯明翰激进报纸在全国的重要性的结论。指示性时间表第 1-2 年：BCU PGC 研究实践证书；情境阅读；在档案馆和图书馆收集证据；制定方法；完善研究问题和源材料；参与 CPHC 活动。第 3-4 年：情境阅读；在档案馆和图书馆收集证据 图书馆；方法论的测试、完善和应用；材料和数据分析；初稿章节；组织西米德兰兹报纸会议；参与 CPHC 活动。第 5-6 年：上下文阅读；研究结论；最终草稿章节；参与 CPHC 活动。第 7 年：编辑和校对准备论文印刷和装订