In ethnographies as well in translation in the traditional sense of the word, the cultural other is not verbalized directly but indirectly, filtered and arranged through the consciousness of the ethnographer or translator. The recognition of the problematic connection between the textualization and conceptualization of culture has provoked a ‘crisis of representation’ in literary studies, historiography and ethnography. Some ethnographic approaches have tried to transcend binary oppositions like that between observer and observed, and focus instead on a view of culture marked by pluralism. The author argues that cultural representation through translation can obtain significant impulses from cultural studies. The paper discusses some of these approaches to translation, assesses their relation to other approaches dealing with cultural representation as well as current Translation Studies, and explores the applicability of such models in the study of translation.