(in) is a short oral story in Russian folklore about a supernatural incident: a case that took place in reality, without focusing on the personal testimony of the narrator (in contrast to the, where the story is recounted on behalf of the "eyewitness"). It echoes the term urban legend.
The (in comparison to the) is closer to legends and fairy tales ("people say that...").[1]
The terms and Russian: byvalschina became known among the people no later than the 19th century. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, Dmitry Sadovnikov, Pyotr Efimenko, Nikolai Onchukov, Dmitry Zelenin, Boris and Yuri Sokolov, and Irina Karnaukhova collected Russian: byvalshchines and Russian: bylichki.
A more complete study of the Russian: bylichki took place in the second half of the 20th century. Erna Pomérantseva proposed a clear distinction between the terms Russian: bylichka and Russian: byvalschina: "the term Russian: bylichka corresponds to the concept of superstitious memorat[e]... From the Russian: byvalschina, tradition, that is, the plot... the Russian: bylichka is distinguished by... formlessness, singularity, lack of community."[2]