Translating Murder: the case of Leonarda Cianciulli
Translation Becomes Eclectic, Journal of Translation and Intercomprehension Studies, ed. Clorinda Donato, Vol. 1, CSULB, 2019, 94-102. In house publication, produced with CSULB IRA Funding
Abstract
In this translation project, we focused on the chilling true story of an Italian woman, Leonarda Cianciulli, a housewife/serial killer from the 1930s, notorious for murdering three of her friends and disposing of their bodies by turning them into soap—hence the grim nickname she earned of La Saponificatrice.
This collaborative effort, with peer Homa Mayani, was not only linguistically engaging but also culturally and emotionally complex. In a time when true crime stories are more popular than ever, working on such a disturbing yet captivating case was particularly impactful.
The project sparked deep reflection on the ethics of storytelling, sensationalism, and the ways language shapes our perception of violence. It was both fascinating and unsettling to bring such a dark chapter of history into English, especially when navigating the rich variety of Italian dialects and registers present in the original texts.