Love as sacrifice: Metaphor and romantic ideology in José José’s Amar y querer

Abstract

This paper analyzes the metaphors used in the song Amar y querer, performed by José José in order to examine how they construct and reinforce a traditional ideology of romantic love in late twentieth-century Latin American culture. Based on the theory of Conceptual Metaphor proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), the study identifies structural and ontological metaphors that represent love as suffering, sacrifice, service, devotion, and loss of rationality. Through the analysis of selected expressions from the lyrics, such as “amar es sufrir,” “el que ama pretende servir,” and “el que ama no puede pensar,” the paper shows how romantic love is framed as total surrender and emotional intensity, while “querer” is associated with pleasure, self-care, and well-being. The findings suggest that these metaphors do not function merely as poetic language, but as cultural and ideological tools that shape how love is understood and normalized. Ultimately, the study argues that Amar y querer reflects a traditional Latin American view of romantic love in which true love is idealized through pain, devotion, and self-denial.