Mediation is a widely used form of third-party conflict management for which research has primarily focused on the role of mediators, but how are the relations between disputing parties constituted in communication involving written texts, such as official letters or medical reports, during mediation sessions? To gain deeper insight into the communicative dynamics through which third-party disputes are created, sustained, and resolved, this paper proposes a new theoretical perspective on mediation by focusing on how human beings and written texts can act as vectors for each other. The value of this vectorial perspective on mediation is subsequently shown through an inductive analysis of video-recorded sessions that took place at an administrative tribunal in Canada. By showing how texts (or their absence) can act as (1) conjunctive vectors that contribute to highlighting disputants’ compatibilities and help them find common ground, or (2) disjunctive vectors that contribute to highlighting their incompatibilities and obstruct their dispute resolution, this paper makes important contributions to the academic and professional literature on the role of communication in conflict mediation work, and reveals significant implications for the study and practice of conflict management in organizations, as well as scholarship on relational ontologies.

调解是一种广泛使用的第三方冲突管理形式，其研究主要集中在调解人的作用，但在调解会议期间，涉及书面文本（如公函或医疗报告）的沟通中​​，争议各方之间的关系如何构成? 为了更深入地了解第三方纠纷的产生、维持和解决的交际动态，本文通过关注人类和书面文本如何作为彼此的载体，提出了一种新的调解理论视角。这种媒介视角对调解的价值随后通过对加拿大行政法庭的录像会议进行归纳分析得到体现。