The author analyzes the image of the “Foreign” in the Russian culture of the first quarter of the XIX century on the example of the French. The factors which influence the transformation of the image of “Foreign” are noted: political situation, official ideology, historical memory. Researchers have described the situation of the XIX century as a cultural pendulum. The direction vectors of this pendulum changed from gallomania to gallophobia and in the opposite direction. They also combined political and everyday forms and were differentially perceived in noble and folk culture. These factors formed the complexity and inconsistency of Russian cultural space. The theses of B. Waldenfels about the paradoxical nature of “Foreign” about the research period and the perspective were used. The paradoxes of “Foreign” were revealed on the examples of the Russian noble culture, a comparative analysis with folk culture was carried out. The author took into account the methodology proposed by B. Waldenfels, using the sources of personal origin and fiction.