... the power relationship that mediated his position ...

[pars]

What does "mediated" mean in the following passage? It is from the book Nationalizing Iran by Afshin Marashi, p. 81. Of course, the meaning of "mediate" is clear, but I think its meaning here is somehow different.

"Taqizadeh’s position on orientalism is revealing in a number of ways. Most important is his awareness of the politics of knowledge that orientalism represented. He seems to have had an intuitive understanding of the power relationship that mediated his position, as a consumer of orientalism, relative to that of European knowledge, the producer of orientalism."

 

[Skrej]

What does a dictionary suggest? There's no special meaning here outside of one of the common dictionary meanings.

 

[Rover_KE]

@pars, please note that I deleted 'Dear friends' and 'Thank you in advance', both of which are unnecessary in your posts here.

 

[pars]

What does a dictionary suggest? There's no special meaning here outside of one of the common dictionary meanings.

Thanks. I know the meaning of "mediate", but its meaning, in relation with the rest of the sentence is ambiguous for me, a man whose mother tongue is not English.

 

[jutfrank]

Are you looking for a synonym? You could replace mediated with 'shaped' or 'informed' or 'influenced'.

He was aware that, and aware of how, the power relationship was influencing his position.