This article is part of Translation and Identity Formation in the Americas, one hypothesis of which is that translation in the Americas is less something that happens between separate and distinct languages and cultures and more something that is constitutive of those very cultures. The author finds that Translation Studies scholarship seems to be evolving in more independent, eclectic fashion in the Americas than in other cultures, with both traditional definitions of translation and another body of thinking and expression on and about translation. This latter form is articulated by representatives of immigrant, refugee and ethnic minority communities. In this article the author explores translation theory as articulated by 'other' voices such as border writers, artists, and filmmakers.