Des tableaux, des diables et des mythes. Petite digression sur la \uab m\ue9tropole de l\u2019univers \ubb

This article focuses on a vast category of texts, the so-called \u201cTableaux de Paris\u201d, or \u201cParis-Guides\u201d, which contributed in a relevant way to the creation and the vulgarization of the Myth of Paris all along the Nineteenth Century. The relation of these publications with the \u201chigh\u201d literature is sometimes ambiguous: several great authors participated to the epic endeavor of displaying Paris\u2019s inhabitants (as Hugo, Balzac, Nerval did), others used this very display to denounce the inanity of the myth itself. In effect, Paris appears in these texts as a \u201ccommon place\u201d, both in the sense of a geographical and social space, and in the sense of a stereotype, a linguistic and cultural clich\ue9. The dynamics between Paris as a space (a space that is common, inasmuch it can be shared) and Paris as a stereotype (a common knowledge) is our main focus, as we are convinced that in this relation many of the most important literary features of the Nineteenth Century\u2019s French Literature are to be understood.Cet article revient sur la vaste cat\ue9gorie de textes que l\u2019on peut regrouper sous la d\ue9finition de \u2018\u201cguides\u201d\u2019 de la ville de Paris, lesquels, sans toujours se parer de ce titre, contribu\ue8rent au XIXe si\ue8cle \ue0 la vulgarisation du mythe de la capitale fran\ue7aise. Paris en tant que mythe moderne se dessine dans ces textes comme un lieu commun, aux deux sens du mot : comme lieu, espace g\ue9ographique et social, mais aussi, et surtout, comme st\ue9r\ue9otype, comme clich\ue9 linguistique et culturel. Le rapport de ce type de publications avec la \u201cgrande litt\ue9rature\u201d est souvent ambigu : plusieurs grands auteurs participent directement \ue0 l\u2019entreprise \ue9pique de mettre en sc\ue8ne les habitants de Paris (Hugo, Balzac, Nerval), d\u2019autres s\u2019en sont servi pour d\ue9noncer l\u2019inanit\ue9 du mythe lui-m\ueame (Baudelaire, Flaubert, les Goncourt)