No Laughing Matter: Translating the Ludic Imagination in Lope de Vega

Lope’s theater is famously playful, featuring a whole series of ludic devices that, dramatically at least, tend to privilege subjectivity and imagination over hard-headed adherence to social norms and the body of customs. This article, remembering Don Larson’s playful nature and his own deep-rooted interest in processes of extension and transformation, examines the translational implications of Lope’s ludic imagination.