Slide 4:

The Little House on the Prairie series has, over time, become a cornerstone
of children's literature in the American vernacular, especially more so for us at
UW, as the first book, Little House in the Big Woods, was set in my very own home
state of Wiscansin.
The effect this has on the American Mythos is undeniable, and Dale Cockrell
explains this elegantly in the Songbook, stating that: "it is the small, the
quotidian, the human-scaled that are made monumental: strength in family, respect
for nature, the importance of place and home, and love in its infinite forms." It
can be inferred that the books form a cultural ideal for the American people to
strive for.
Despite the books being a series of children's literature, the themes and
tone depicted in the stories are, at times, tragic and harsh. Some of the most
compelling moments are shaped by those realities. Mary, the eldest daughter, is
blinded by disease, grasshoppers raze crops, blizzards threaten starvation, floods
come, and the family dog dies.
Considering these harrowing tales, the family still manages to find comfort
in each other as well as their relationship with music, into which Allyson will
give us more insight.

Slide 6:
Speaking of Laura's depiction of her father, we can go into memory's
influence on the autobiographical nature of the Little House series itself. In
terms of neuroscience and theories of epistemology, our ability to recall memories
is often shaped by revisionism and condensation into episodic fragments, much like
the chapters of a novel. Often times, we find ourselves appending bits of falsely
'remembered' information to creatively construct a representation of what had
really happened in the past. This effect on the recounting of events can be seen in
one of Wilder's poems.
(Recite it)
From this, we can see that the books themselves have likely undergone some
form of narrative beautification, which is fine in itself, seeing as we consider
the Little House series fictitious. The more interesting questions arise from
faulty memory's relation to the music in Laura's life.

Slide 7:
Here, we have The Blue Juniata, it is interesting to note that while Wilder's
father had written a note down with the lyrics as he remembered them, the piece
presented in the Little House on the Prairie is written the way she had remembered
her father sing it. Let's have a quick listen.
(Play the song)
In the context of this piece, Ma sings to Pa's fiddle playing, about a North
American Indigenous culture that was "romanticized, Anglicized, and gone". Laura's
reaction to the plight of Alfarata suggests that she had questions about the
treatment of the North American Indigenous people. She asks "Where did the voice of
Alfarata go, Ma?" to which her mother responds, "They probably went west because
that is what the government makes the Indians do." her father adds "Yes, when white
settlers come into a country, the Indians have to move on." in the book, she
contends that the land they lived on was North American Indigenous territory, to
which her father tells her to go to sleep.
This was a surprisingly nuanced take of the situation considering the time
period, though it is hard to keep up the good spirit when we get depictions of the
most popular form of musical theatre in the 19th Century, minstrelsy. One such song
that appeared in the series was The Skidmore Guard, where you can find multiple
archaic slurs and racism against African-Americans, the Romani people, Indigenous
North Americans, the French, the Italians, and the Germans, along with a
microaggression against Judaism. This particular performance was participated in by
Laura's father as well as four other townspeople, the excitement and jollity of the
starkly honest depiction in the book itself raises suspicion to say the least.
Slide 8:
Moving on to something a little more lighthearted, we can find other
instances of the relationship the Wilder family has with music. In 19th Century
tradition, they found themselves modifying lyrics to pieces much like in The
Arkansas Traveler. A wholesome instance of this is the alterations made to Polly
Put the Kettle On, where the family substitutes Laura and Mary for Polly and Suzie.
This self insertion shows the deep link the Wilder family has with musical
tradition and their ability to generate a wholesome atmosphere. Let's have a quick
listen to the Pa's Fiddle recording.
(PLAY, FIDDLER, PLAY)
This piece was actually based off O du lieber Augustin, a popular Viennese
song with written documents dating back to around 1800, fun fact.