International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL) Volume 10, Issue 10, october 2022, PP 37-53 ISSN 2347-3126 (Print) & ISSN 2347-3134 (Online) http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2347-3134.1010005 www.arcjournals.org International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL) Page | 37 To Better Understand Vincent : A Study of The Emotional Tone of Vincent Van Gogh’s Letters to His Brother Theo: 1872-1890 Cynthia Whissell* Laurentian University, Canada 1. INTRODUCTION Why would one study the correspondence of someone they wanted to understand better? According to Barnes (2018, p. 1), they would do this because “letters carry material traces of the emotions that motivated the writer” and also because letters “stand in for face-to-face communication with familiars”. Barnes suggests that inkblots, torn pages, or hurried scrawls might provide clues as to the nature of the emotion in letters. The research described in this paper consults a different source: it looks for emotion in the words that letter-writers employ. This research analyzes the letters of the post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo and scores them for the emotional tone of their words and for word usage patterns. The paper describes three chapters in the painter’s life between 1872 and his death in 1890 (outlined in Table 1), and searches for evidence of negative emotional tone or depression in the letters because depression was a diagnosis offered to explain Van Gogh’s behavior towards the end of his life (Nolen, van Meekeren, Voskuil, & Tilberg, 2020). Vincent Van Gogh fascinates. He commands attention. He did this in intense interactions with his family (Naifeh & White Smith, 2012, chapter 1), and in his collaborations and communications with fellow artists such as Paul Gauguin (chapter 31). Vincent’s admirers affirm that his letters embody both great literature (Grant, 2016, p. xi; Roskill, 2008, p. 11) and an innovative theory of art (Roskill, 2008, p. 39). Vincent commanded attention by his art, making choices for form and color that were far from usual. More than a century after his death, Vincent continues to command attention by way of the Van Gogh Museum (vangoghmuseum.nl/en), and the many critical and analytical works written about him and his art and letters (e.g., Mainwaring & Mainwaring, 2020; Walther & Metzher, 2015, Woittiez, 2019). When one encounters Vincent, it is difficult to look or listen briefly and then move on. The artist’s compelling oeuvre and his absorbing life, which was lived dramatically and never lacked for conflict, entangle his audience. This article studies Vincent as a letter-writer, employing techniques that limit subjectivity in the interpretation of the letters’ contents. It calls on a semi- objective scoring procedure (the Dictionary of Affect in Language; Whissell, 2009) to score Vincent’s letters to his brother Theo along two emotional dimensions (Pleasantness, Activation) and one cognitive dimension (Imagery). The research will examine the letters, not in terms of their details or meanings but rather in terms of their emotional flavours. Pleasantness and Activation are background characteristics of the letters: they describe whole letters in terms of a single score and report on their general emotional tone. The measure of Imagery quantifies the artist’s language in terms of its Abstract: The artist Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) kept up an energetic correspondence with his brother Theo between 1872 and 1890. Theo supported Vincent financially and enabled his pursuance of art. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has English translations of 645 letters written by Vincent to Theo available on their website. To better understand the artist, this research examines the emotional tone (Pleasantness, Activation) of these letters and fluctuations in tone over time, using the Dictionary of Affect sentiment analysis tool. Three distinct “chapters” of letter-writing (Before Art, Studying Art, Artist) are defined, based on the frequency of letters and breaks in letter-writing. Surprisingly, the overall emotional tone of the letters is positive. The hypothesis of decreasing overall pleasantness across time is supported by a regression analysis. Specifically, the trajectory of pleasantness in the letters has a tragic form: it falls to a low in the mid-1880s and then rises briefly before the artist’s death. The second chapter of Vincent’s life (1880-1886) is the most turbulent and includes a distinctive vocabulary reflecting Vincent’s preoccupations. Keywords: Vincent Van Gogh, Theo Van Gogh, letters, emotional tone, pleasantness. *Corresponding Authors: Cynthia Whissell, Laurentian University, Canada