The Russian Government will develop a professional standard (GOST) for writers, which is set to come into effect from September, according to a report from the Ministry of Digital Development. According to the Kommersant publication, the new regulation will allow writers to formalize their work relationships and protect their rights, with social support measures also being provided, although it is not specified what these will consist of.
At the same time, the official status of a writer can only be obtained by individuals who are knowledgeable about the history and culture of Russia, as well as the main trends of Russian and universal literature.
The initiative was not met with enthusiasm by the literary community.
The writer Sergei Lukyanenko, author of the novel “Night Watch”, described the idea as “an attempt to reduce the activity of writers to some schemes” and “a total nonsense”.
“History is full of examples of authors who had no education, were unfamiliar with foreign literature, and even the literature of their own country, but they left a significant mark on culture,” he stated.
In turn, the writer Shamil Idiatullin compared the initiative with the GTO sports standards from the Soviet era and emphasized that a valuable author is not obliged to be a specialist in history.
“In the form it is proposed now, it is yet another example of a ‘Potemkin village’. A writer does not become a writer because they know the history of Russia, but because they write good books. There should be an understanding of literature, but here they are trying to align everyone and force them to march in the same line. If only those who pass these ‘GTO standards’ will be published, the situation will become even worse than it is now,” said Idiatullin.
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