The eye of the world — Zoe Miller

Etymology · a definition

entry № 001

The word that names this notebook — where it comes from, and why it stays.

1. 1.

   Malay, mata hari — literally eye of the day, i.e. the sun. From mata (eye) + hari (day). Cognate across the Malay-Indonesian archipelago and later absorbed into French.

2. 2.

   The stage name of Margaretha Zelle (1876–1917), a Dutch dancer who reinvented herself in Belle-Époque Paris as a "Javanese temple dancer." Executed by French firing squad in Vincennes on charges of espionage.

3. 3.

   Here, in this project. A posture to examine forms of French colonial control, brutality, and change in daylight (hari). Matahara is an ode to complete transparency in my research. The eye of the day, aimed sharply.

A note on the spelling: this project uses "matahara," not the historical "mata hari." The change creates a small distance from its origin, while keeping "eye of the day" as the operative meaning adjusted to its purpose in this project.