Banditisme social, mémoire collective et histoire: le rôle de Jesse James dans la création de sa propre légende.

Jesse James (1847-82) left behind a paper trail specifically designed to create the legendary character he posthumously became. This article examines letters James and his brother Frank wrote to friends and to newspapers, detecting the seeds of the legend as depicted in 39 feature films that have appeared since his death. The analysis yields a glimpse of iconic masculinity in its construction.