Abstract: If there is an area which seems to be placed at the extreme periphery in Proust’s mental library, it is the popular novel. Does it not, however, reveal extensive exposure to certain authors? And doesn’t he define the adventure novel in a way that allows him to identify laws? The elucidation of allusions to Alexandre Dumas makes it possible to determine precise memories as well as profound resonances that might make the popular novel the flipside of the introspective novel for Proust.
