par Michel Leymarie
1996, in La Revue des revues no 22
The Tharaud brothers, René Doumic et the Revue des Deux Mondes
At the turn of the century, the Tharaud brothers were poor but their burning literary ambitions would bring them wealth and notoriety. At that time their only publisher was Charles Péguy and his Cahiers de la Quinzaine with whom the brothers shared their proDreyfus stand. In 1904, they met Maurice Barrès and became his secretaries in alternance. It was a turning point in their career ; first drawn to him for financial reasons, they soon adopted him as their mentor. Their 1906 Goncourt Prize opened the doors of many newspapers and journals to them and the Tharaud brothers were happy to collaborate with any publication which paid and was classified as right wing.
The Revue des Deux Mondes remain inaccessible to them : it would take World War I and their series of war novels to get their names printed in the contents list of this prestigious journal. Their « Maroccain Series » and then « Jewish Series » – with highly antisemitic colorations – pushed The Tharaud brothers to the top of the journal’s best paid authors list and brought them all the honors and distinctions that participation in the periodical could bring. At the height of their glory, they left the journal to write for Massis and Bainville’s Revue universelle which better corresponded to their brand of maurrassistic, nationalistic political radicalism.