Bringing Russian Literature to a Higher Standard?

While writers today may not be considered the "engineers of human souls," as Maxim Gorky once paraphrased Yuri Olesha, there are some who would like to subject writers and critics to the same draconian standards as those used during the Soviet era The Russian Labor Ministry has posted a draft proposal for the establishment of a professional standard for writers, authored by State Duma member (and writer) Sergei Shargunov. 

The draft details what being a professional writer would entail, from being able to develop, write, and edit one's own work to being well-versed in Russian and foreign literature. Writers would also need to have received higher education. According to Shargunov, writers are "becoming leaders of public opinion" and need "to build effective support for the modern literary creative process, and to increase the prestige of the writer's profession in society." 

While this proposal, even if it were to be passed, only represents guidelines rather than legal requirements for writers, it follows in an uneasy Russian tradition of governmental control and censorship over artists and writers.