An Intertextual Study Of Dear Theo: The Autobiography Of Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh,the pioneer of Post-Impressionism,was legendary around the world not only because of his short but glorious career as a painter distorted by mental disorder and misunderstandings,but also his resilience and great enthusiasm toward painting,albeit in poverty and bad health.Most of the studies concentrate on the aesthetic worth of his paintings while little attention is attached to the literary qualities of his letters.With special attention to Dear Theo: The Autobiography of Vincent van Gogh,this thesis probes into the formation of his individual poetics and multifaceted identities through appropriate contextualization from an intertextual perspective.This thesis includes six parts.First,there is a brief introduction of Vincent van Gogh's life experience,Dear Theo and its editors.Then it presents a literature review of Van Gogh's letters.In the following part,it presents the theory of intertextuality,its significance and the intertextual links from the perspective of family background,social background,art and literature as manifest in Dear Theo.The fourth part is a summary of Van Gogh's artistic views while the fifth part mainly concentrates on his authorship and the literary worth of his letters.By way of conclusion,I argue that from the perspective of intertextuality,Van Gogh's firm belief in Dutch Calvinism,extensive reading of works of literature and art,contribute to his idiosyncratic artistic views and poetics.In the process of being influenced by context and texts,Van Gogh is recreating a new world not only through his creative and bold use of colors,portraying the real world in his paintings but also expressing his original thinking in words.