Printing and Social Control in Russia 2: Decrees 电子书下载

书名：Printing and Social Control in Russia 2: Decrees

Статья в журнале Russian History 38 (2011), С. 467–492AbstractOn 16 March 1714 Peter I issued a decree on the printing of decrees. Previously all decrees( ukazy ), and indeed almost all legislative texts apart from the 1649 law code ( Ulozhenie ) ofAleksei Mikhailovich, had been issued in manuscript and disseminated through hand-writtencopies and oral proclamation. Peter’s decree on the use of print was a landmark in the administrativeuses of printing in Russia. It was intended as such by Peter, and perceived as such by hissuccessors. Th e continued success of this initiative is contrasted with the repeated failure of otherprojects for the systematic use of printing in legislation: the attempts to produce a new systematiccode, and to publish regular chronological compilations of laws. Th is article considers thecontext, implications, and consequences of Peter’s innovative ruling. Th e main questions underconsideration are: why had printing not been used for these purposes earlier? what specifi c functionswas the technology called upon to fulfi l? and what were its relations with other technologies?Particular attention is paid to the perceived and actual roles of printing as an aid to (i)distribution, (ii) standardization, and (iii) the emblematic projection of authority. In each case,printing is considered not in isolation, but in its relations with the uses of manuscript andspeech. A fi nal section considers some ways in which Peter’s instruction was followed or adapted by his 18th-century successors.