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Les romans sur Rocambole de Ponson du Terrail comme source d’inspiration pour une bande d’escrocs moscovites du xixe siècle: Étude sur l’instabilité sociale dans la Russie tsariste des années 1860 à 1870
The article presents a part of a thesis on the subject « The reception of the novels of Ponson du Terrail (about Rocambole) in the Russian literature in the 1860s-1890s ». It studies the social and literary reception of the rocambolesque novels of Ponson du Terrail (1829-1871) in Russia at the end of the XIXth century.
Around 1871, a gang of con men named « Valets de Cœur » was created in Moscow. The same title can be found in the Rocambole cycle « Le Club des valets de cœur » - published in 1858 (La Patrie). It is not a coincidence since the young crooks reproduced the exact same crimes of the book’s characters in real life.
The affair of the « Valets de Cœur » led to a great trial, and drew particular attention amongst Russian writers, who questioned the future of the country. They considered this phenomenon as a social mark of a Russia losing its stability.