Sophie
ihcoyc said:
What a beautiful image, ihcoyc. We just have to look at the evocative figures and the graceful illustrations of the pips, and the seemingly simple woodcuts, to see that we are in the presence of great folk art - like fairy tales and, as you wrote, ballads. But there will always be some - often great artists! - to try and fix down folk art. Perrault and the Grimms did it with fairy tales, Smetana and Vaughan Williams with ballads. Possibly the discussion over what constitutes a Marseille tarot comes down to this: is the Marseille fixed, like a Perrault fairy tale (beautiful as these are), or is it fluid and evolving like a continuous folk tale?
And consider, too, that some of the same fairy tales were set down differently by Perrault in the 17th century, and the Grimms, two centuries later...
...and also, that elements of folk art often tend to become fixed at times when they are in danger of disappearing, or being transformed and supplanted altogether by evolving forms of the art. It is entirely possible that the move to fix a canon of Tarot de Marseille comes from this concern.
BTW, does anyone know if there have been studies made of the Tarot by folkorists?
