Keeping Yunes Alive: The Vulnerable Witness in Gate of the Sun

Abstract

Lebanese author Elias Khoury (1948–2024) grapples with witnessing, memory, and the future of Palestine in his acclaimed novel, Gate of the Sun (1998), which follows narrator Khalil Ayyoub as he watches over and memorializes the life of comatose freedom fighter Yunes al-Asadi. In this thesis, I examine how Gate of the Sun explores witnessing as it articulates silence and is shaped by trauma. As understood through Gate of the Sun, bearing witness is an empathetic act of resistance which enables liberation.