This essay examines how contemporary Chicanx literature represents gentrification and urban displacement as forms of neocolonialism, using Helena María Viramontes’s “Their Dogs Came with Them” (2007) and Brando Skyhorse’s “The Madonnas of Echo Park” (2011) as case studies. Both works examine the mid-twentiethcentury destruction of working-class Chicanx neighborhoods in Los Angeles and reclaim them for these communities through a decolonial mode of memory making—what I term “grounding.” The novels enact grounding through three narrative strategies: historical parallels; narrative anchors; and a nonlinear, multifocal structure. I argue that these techniques activate barrio memory to reclaim the space for Mexican-ancestry people and preserve its Chicanx identity and history. I contend that the novels deploy grounding as a decolonial maneuver by imagining a future in which the land of the barrio is reclaimed. Land and time are decolonized by creating a shared barrio space and uncovering the history of their Chicanx and Indigenous inhabitants by showing time’s cyclical nature for Chicanxs who have undergone a long history of displacement. Utilizing memory as a tool for preservation and decolonization, the novels underscore the critical role of literature in countering ongoing displacement and honoring the heritage of Chicanx communities.
