Portrait of Eugène Sue the dandy. The construction of an image and its ideological motivations
Portrait d’Eugène Sue dandy – la construction d’une image et ses motivations idéologiques
Résumé
Eugène Sue became a celebrity with the publication of the Mystères de Paris and the Juif-errant in the 1840s. He inspired numerous rumors that were intended to discredit both his activities as a writer of serial fiction and his political positions favoring socialist currents of thought. His opponents endeavored to portray the novelist as a dandy who was a false and opportunistic convert to socialism. This article returns to the sources of the legends.
Véritable célébrité lors de la publication des Mystères de Paris et du Juif-errant dans les années 1840, Eugène Sue a suscité de nombreuses rumeurs motivées par le souci de discréditer d’une part ses activités de feuilletoniste, d’autre part ses positions politiques en faveur des courants de pensée socialistes. Ses adversaires se sont attachés à construire du romancier l’image d’un dandy faussement converti au socialisme par opportunisme. Cet article remonte aux sources des légendes.