The article examines the circumstances of the emergence and spread of the maxim “Scratch a Russian and you will find a Tatar” (in the variants: “...bear”, “...barbarian”, “...Cossack”). The model for this construction was the New Testament phrase “Cherchez, et vous trouverez” – “Seek and you will find”. In 1830–1832, all the basic forms of speech already existed, and then new maxims began to be created according to this model. Quotations in the press recorded the formula of oral speech, which most likely arose in the Parisian literary salons. Its appearance and rapid spread precisely in the 1830s were caused by the actualization of the theme of the “Russian threat”. In the maxim “Scratch a Russian...” “bear”, “Cossack” and “Tatar” are specifications of the general concept of “barbarian”. In the Age of Enlightenment, “barbarism” is primarily synonymous with ignorance and uncivilization. But in Napoleonic propaganda of 1813–1814, and then in the statements of Napoleon the Exile, “barbarian” is already a symbol of destructive force and cruelty, and “Cossack” is a concretization of the barbarian in this meaning. Replacing the “barbarian” with the “Tatar” more strongly emphasized the alienation of Russians from European civilization and opened the way to the negative ethnicization of the stereotype. “Tatar” is not just a synonym for barbarian, but an indication of the ethnic, and, therefore, eternal nature of Russians. The negative ethnicization of the stereotype was most noticeable among Polish authors, as well as among those sympathizing with the Polish cause. However, usually in both Europe and Russia, this maxim was applied to the “educated class”, and not to the people as a whole.
political language; national stereotypes; France; Napoleon I.